Passive voice · CEFR B2 · Confident
Active vs Passive — English passive voice
When the doer is unknown or does not matter, the thing comes first.
The shape
be + third form
Talk about what was done without saying who did it.
In Hindi
जब करने वाला अज्ञात हो या मायने न रखता हो, तब चीज़ पहले आती है।
CoCap explains every structure in both languages, because a rule you understand in Hindi is a rule you can use in English.
The mistake to fix first
The sentence Indian-English speakers actually produce, and the reason it is wrong.
| Commonly said | Correct English |
|---|---|
The work was did yesterday. | The work was done yesterday. The passive needs the third form, not the past simple. |
Active vs Passive examples
Easiest first. Every sentence is authored, with the Hindi it comes from.
The report was sent yesterday.
रिपोर्ट कल भेजा गया था।
The invoice was sent yesterday.
इनवॉइस कल भेजा गया था।
The letter was sent yesterday.
पत्र कल भेजा गया था।
The parcel was sent yesterday.
पार्सल कल भेजा गया था।
The message was sent yesterday.
संदेश कल भेजा गया था।
The work was finished last week.
काम पिछले हफ़्ते पूरा किया गया था।
The work was approved last week.
काम पिछले हफ़्ते मंज़ूर किया गया था।
The work was checked last week.
काम पिछले हफ़्ते जाँचा गया था।
The work was cancelled last week.
काम पिछले हफ़्ते रद्द किया गया था।
The work was delayed last week.
काम पिछले हफ़्ते टाल दिया गया था।
Easy to confuse with
Close enough to be mixed up with this one. Knowing the difference is most of knowing either.
- Perfect passiveB2Say something has already been done
- Future passiveB2Say something will be done, without naming who does it
- should be doneB2Say what has to be done without saying who does it
- get married, get paidB2Use the passive people actually say out loud
Questions people ask
- What is the active vs passive used for?
- When the doer is unknown or does not matter, the thing comes first. In practice: talk about what was done without saying who did it.
- How do you form the active vs passive?
- be + third form.
- What is the most common mistake with the active vs passive?
- Saying “The work was did yesterday.” instead of “The work was done yesterday.”. The passive needs the third form, not the past simple.
Where active vs passive fits
Where this structure sits in the ladder, and what surrounds it.
Active vs Passive is a CEFR B2 structure — the confident band — and it belongs to passive voice. CoCap’s syllabus files every structure this way so you can learn in order instead of jumping between whatever a search happened to return.
Reading it is not the same as saying it.
CoCap turns this page into practice: Hindi sentence in, English sentence out, corrected one thing at a time. Free, no card.
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