Passive Form of Verbs

The passive form of verbs is made with the different tenses of BE + the past participle :
(for example : English is spoken here.)

• We use the active form of a verb to say what a subject does:
  
  • The chef cooks food every day.

• We use the passive form to say what happens to the subject:
  • Food is cooked every day.

• The subject of a passive verb corresponds to the object of an active verb :
  • Food is cooked every day.  (Passive).
  • The chef cooks food every day.  (Active)
       

• We use the passive form of a verb when it is not important who does the action,
  or when we don't know who does it.
  • The letter was delivered at 9 a.m.
    The identity of the person who delivered the letter is unknown or unimportant.
    If we want to say who delivered the letter, we use 'by':
    The letter was delivered by the postman.

VERB	ACTIVE	PASSIVE
Infinitive :	To cook	To be cooked
Present Simple :	I cook food in the kitchen.	Food is cooked in the kitchen.
Present Continuous	I am cooking  food in the kitchen.	Food is being cooked in the kitchen.
Present Perfect	I have cooked food in the kitchen.	Food has been cooked in the kitchen.
Past Simple	I cooked food in the kitchen.	Food was cooked in the kitchen.
Past Continuous	I was cooking food in the kitchen.	Food was being cooked in the kitchen.
Past Perfect	I had cooked food in the kitchen.	Food had been cooked in the kitchen.
Future	I will cook food in the kitchen.	Food will be cooked in the kitchen.
Future Perfect	I will have cooked food in the kitchen.	Food will have been cooked in the kitchen.
Conditional	I would cook food in the kitchen	Food would be cooked in the kitchen.
Cond. Perfect	I would have cooked food in the kitchen.	Food would have been cooked in the kitchen.