Passive Voice: Perfect, Continuous & Future
Level B2 · Passive Voice
Just as present simple, past simple, and modal passives shift the focus from the doer to the receiver of the action, every other active tense has its own passive equivalent too — the perfect, continuous, and future tenses included. Use these forms when a process is still going on (The road is being resurfaced), when something is already finished with present relevance (The decision has been made), when something was in progress at a specific past moment (The bridge was being repaired when the storm hit), or when something hasn't happened yet (The results will be announced tomorrow). The same basic idea still applies — focus on what happens rather than on who does it — but now it stretches across every time frame an active sentence can express.
The rule is simple once you see the pattern: whatever auxiliary combination the active tense normally uses, the passive keeps that exact same combination and inserts a form of be right before the past participle — the main verb becomes the past participle, doing the same job it already did in the active form:
- Present perfect passive: has/have been + past participle — active has decided becomes passive has been decided: The decision has been made; Have you been informed?
- Past perfect passive: had been + past participle — active had submitted becomes had been submitted: The report had already been submitted by the time she checked.
- Present continuous passive: is/are being + past participle — active is cleaning becomes is being cleaned: The room is being cleaned right now.
- Past continuous passive: was/were being + past participle — active was repairing becomes was being repaired: The bridge was being repaired when the storm hit.
- Future passive: will be + past participle — active will announce becomes will be announced: The results will be announced tomorrow.
- Future perfect passive (less common, but worth recognising): will have been + past participle — active will have completed becomes will have been completed: By next year, the building will have been completed.
The most common mistake is dropping been from the perfect passive and leaving only has/have or had with the past participle, as if that alone were enough: The decision has made is wrong — you need has been made, with been inserted before the past participle. A second frequent error is under-marking the continuous passive: is cleaned right now sounds like a general, habitual fact rather than something happening at this exact moment — to describe an action in progress right now you need is being cleaned, with being added, not just is cleaned.
Look for the same time and aspect signals that would cue perfect, continuous, or future in the active voice — already, just, for, since point to perfect; right now, at the moment, while point to continuous; tomorrow, next year, by then point to future — combined with a doer that isn't named or isn't the focus. That combination is the signal that a bare past participle on its own isn't enough: you need been inserted for the perfect or continuous passive, or will be for the future passive.