Present Passive

Learn how to use the simple passive tense.
Present Passive

Present Passive

Hear four conversations using this grammar point for free on elllo.org

Answer the following questions about the interview.

Simple Passive and Past Participles

Point 1: For many verbs, an action from the past can be said two ways.
  • Someone broke the chair.
  • The chair is broken.
  • Someone finished the report.
  • The report is finished.
  • Someone canceled the game.
  • The game is finished.
Point 2: Verbs can change to an adjective using the past participle tense, which is the -ed form of the verb.

regular verbs

  • finish, finished
  • cancel, canceled
  • reserve, reserved

irregular verbs

  • break, broke, broken
  • do, did, done
Point 3: The simple passive tense and adjective complement clause both use past participles and look similar, but they are different.

Simple Passive (Shows an action.)

  1. They serve food until midnight.
  2. Food is served until midnight.
  3. They cook the food with fresh ingredients.
  4. The food is cooked with fresh ingredients.

Adjective Complement (Shows a quality.)

  1. The chair is broken. The chair is old.
  2. The report is finished. The report is interesting.
  3. The game is canceled. The game is over.
Point 4: With adjective complements and past participles, the sentence describes how an action remains unchanged.
  • The store is closed now. Someone closed it.
  • The meeting is scheduled for noon. Someone scheduled it.
  • This soup is not cooked enough. Someone did not cook it.
  • I am not prepared to teach tomorrow. You didn't prepare.
Point 5: There are some verbs that use the base form of the verb, not the past participle, to express an ongoing situation.
  • The room is clean. Someone cleaned it.
  • The store is open. Someone opened it.
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