English Grammar Test: Passive Voice
- Passive Voice
- 15 questions
- 12 minutes
This test covers passive forms in different tenses: is made, was made, is being made, has been made, will be made and must be made. Tip: every passive uses a form of be plus the past participle, and the tense is shown by be.
Tap an option to mark your answer. You can change your mind, or tap the same option again to leave the question blank. The correct answers and explanations appear when you finish the test.Tap an option to answer; tap it again to leave the question blank.
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Question 1
English ____ in many countries around the world.
Correct answer: A
Languages do not speak; people speak them, so the passive is needed: is + past participle spoken. Spoken alone has no helping verb.
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Question 2
The Mona Lisa ____ by Leonardo da Vinci.
Correct answer: B
The painting received the action, and it happened in the past, so use the past simple passive: was painted. The Mona Lisa painted would mean the picture did the painting.
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Question 3
The new hospital ____ right now, and it will open next year.
Correct answer: B
Right now shows an action in progress, so use the present continuous passive: is being + past participle. Is building would mean the hospital builds something.
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Question 4
The thieves ____ by the police last night.
Correct answer: D
The thieves received the action and last night is past, so the past simple passive were caught is correct.
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Question 5
The package ____ yet. I'm still waiting for it.
Correct answer: C
A package does not deliver itself, so you need the passive, and yet calls for the present perfect: hasn't been delivered.
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Question 6
The results of the contest ____ next Monday.
Correct answer: D
The future passive is will be + past participle. Will announce is active, and will announced leaves out be.
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Question 7
The windows must ____ every week.
Correct answer: A
After a modal verb like must, can or should, the passive is be + past participle: must be cleaned.
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Question 8
"Someone stole my bike." Which sentence says the same thing in the passive voice?
Correct answer: B
The active past simple stole becomes the passive was stolen. The other sentences make the bike the doer of the action.
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Question 9
When I arrived at the office, the letter ____ already.
Correct answer: B
The sending happened before another past event (when I arrived), so use the past perfect passive: had been sent.
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Question 10
Which sentence is in the passive voice?
Correct answer: A
In a passive sentence the subject receives the action and the verb is be + past participle: was eaten. In the other sentences the kids do the action.
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Question 11
Two hundred new workers ____ by the company since 2020.
Correct answer: C
Since 2020 needs the present perfect, and the workers receive the action, so use have been hired. Were hired since mixes the past simple with since.
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Question 12
Which underlined part of the sentence contains an error?
The museum was build in 1902 and is visited by thousands of tourists every year.
Correct answer: D
The passive needs the past participle: was built, not the base form build. Is visited is a correct present passive.
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Question 13
Which underlined part of the sentence contains an error?
The decision was made from the committee after it was discussed for hours.
Correct answer: C
In a passive sentence, the doer of the action is introduced with by: was made by the committee.
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Question 14
When ____?
Correct answer: C
In a passive question, was comes before the subject and the past participle follows: When was the Eiffel Tower built? Did is used only for active questions.
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Question 15
I ____ to the party, so I stayed home.
Correct answer: A
The speaker received (or did not receive) the invitation, so the past simple passive wasn't invited is needed. I didn't invite would mean the speaker was the host.
Questions you leave blank are not counted as wrong.
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