What is Done to Something
Passive Voice
Use the passive voice to express that something is done to an object. The passive voice is especially useful in business situations when the focus is on the product, rather than the person who manufactures the product. The following structure is used for sentences in the passive voice.
Positive Form:
Passive Subject + to be (passive auxiliary) + Past Participle
Our storage system is updated every month.
Our word processor was designed as a wysiwyg system.
Negative Form:
Passive Subject + to be (passive auxiliary) + Not + Past Participle
Your e-mail hasn't been filtered out as spam.
The kernel will not be altered by the programmers.
Question Form:
to be (passive auxiliary) + Passive Subject + Past Participle
Was the adware removed by the anti-virus program?
Is that data considered recoverable?
Notice that the verb 'to be' is conjugated. Be careful to use 'is' for singular objects and 'are' for plural objects in the present passive voice.
The Use of the Agent 'by' in the Passive Voice
In many cases, the person, company or agent of the action need not be included. This is especially true in general statements.
Oranges are grown in California.
In this case, it is understood that someone grows oranges in California. However, it is not important for the understanding of the sentence to include the agent.
Oranges are grown in California. (by someone)
In the case that it is important to know who or what performs the action in a passive sentence, use the preposition 'by'.
Computers are assembled by Lenovo.
This book was printed by Harper's.
In this case, the company that manufactures the objects is required information.
Passive Tense Comparison Chart
This chart shows passive conjugation for a variety of tenses.
Present Simple Passive
That data stream isn't updated very often.
The command lines are altered every few days.
Past Simple Passive
That router wasn't the wireless access point used to access the internet.
Was the peripheral manufactured in China?
Future with 'Will' Passive
Will that text get cut and pasted into your email message?
This cursor design will not be used again in future versions of our OS.
Present Perfect Passive
My wife has been caught ego surfing hundreds of times.
Your e-mail hasn't been filtered out as spam.