Passive Voice in the Past Simple

Explanation in Simple English

What Is Passive Voice?

Imagine you're telling a story about a broken window. You could say:

  • Active: "Tom broke the window." (Tom did the action — Tom is the star.)
  • Passive: "The window was broken." (The window received the action — the window is the star.)

In active voice, the person who does the action is the star of the sentence.
In passive voice, the thing that receives the action becomes the star.

The Magic Formula

Object + was/were + past participle (V3)

Part

Example

Object

The letter

was/were

was

Past participle

written

Full sentence

The letter was written.

Remember:

  • Use was with I, he, she, it (singular).
  • Use were with you, we, they (plural).

When Do We Use It?

1. When we don't know who did the action

  • The car was stolen last night. (We don't know who stole it.)
  • My phone was taken from my bag. (Nobody knows who took it.)

2. When the doer is obvious or unimportant

  • The thief was arrested yesterday. (Obviously by the police.)
  • Breakfast was served at 8 a.m. (By the hotel staff — no need to say.)

3. When we want to focus on the action or result

  • The pyramids were built thousands of years ago.
  • The cake was eaten before the party started!

4. When we want to sound formal or polite

  • Your request was received by our team.
  • The mistake was made by the company, not by you.

How to Add the Doer (if you want)

Use by + the person/thing:

  • The song was written by Adele.
  • The window was broken by the storm.
  • The letters were delivered by a young postman.

Negative Sentences

Add not after was/were:

  • The door was not (wasn't) locked.
  • The students were not (weren't) informed about the test.
  • The money wasn't found.
  • The rooms weren't cleaned yesterday.

Questions

Put was/were at the beginning:

  • Was the homework done?
  • Were the windows closed before the rain?
  • Was this bridge built in 1990?
  • Were the invitations sent on time?

Active → Passive: Quick Transformation

Active (Past Simple)

Passive (Past Simple)

Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.

Hamlet was written by Shakespeare.

They cleaned the classroom.

The classroom was cleaned.

Someone stole my bike.

My bike was stolen.

She made the cake.

The cake was made by her.

The dog ate the biscuits.

The biscuits were eaten by the dog.

He fixed the computer.

The computer was fixed.

They built this school in 1970.

This school was built in 1970.

The manager signed the contract.

The contract was signed by the manager.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ The letter was write yesterday.
✅ The letter was written yesterday. (Always use V3!)

❌ The windows was cleaned.
✅ The windows were cleaned. (Plural → were)

❌ The book was wrote by him.
✅ The book was written by him.

Memory Trick 

Think of passive voice as a "was/were + V3 sandwich":
The action happened to something, and we're reporting the result — like a news headline: "Bank was robbed!" not "Some unknown man robbed the bank!"