Questions in the Passive
How do we form questions in the Passive voice?
Questions in the Passive are formed with to be and the past participle *.
1. Yes/No questions in the Passive (Present Simple)
Form of be | Subject | past participle | Rest | Yes/No | Subject | Auxiliary (+ n’t) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Is | tiramisu | made | from eggs? | Yes, No, No, | it it it | is. is not. isn’t. |
Are | cars | designed | in Germany? | Yes, No, No, | they they they | are. are not. aren’t. |
2. Questions with questions words in the Passive (Present Simple)
Question word | Form of be | Subject | past participle | Rest | Answer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
What | is | tiramisu | made | from | Tiramisu is made from eggs, sugar and cheese. |
Why | are | cars | designed | in Germany? | Cars are made in Germany because they are good designers. |
3. Yes/No questions in the Passive (Past Simple)
Form of be | Subject | past participle | Rest | Yes/No | Subject | Auxiliary (+ n’t) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Was | the man | arrested? | Yes, No, No, | he he he | was. was not. wasn’t. | |
Were | the children | taken | on a trip? | Yes, No, No, | they they they | were. were not. weren’t. |
4. Questions with question words in the Passive (Past Simple)
Question word | Form of be | Subject | past participle | Rest | Answer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Who | was | the man | arrested | by? | The man was arrested by the police. |
Where | were | the children | taken | on a trip? | The children were taken to the zoo. |
5. Other tenses
Here are some more examples in other tenses. Let’s start with the simple forms:
Tense | Auxiliary | Subject | Verb |
---|---|---|---|
Present Perfect | Has | the room | been painted? |
Past Perfect | Had | the room | been painted? |
will-future | Will | the room | be painted? |
going to-future | Is | the room | going to be painted? |
Future Perfect | Will | the room | have been painted? |
Conditional | Would | the room | be painted? |
Conditional Perfect | Would | the room | have been painted? |
And here are two continuous forms:
Tense | Auxiliary | Subject | Verb |
---|---|---|---|
Present Continuous | Is | the room | being painted? |
Past Continuous | Was | the room | being painted? |
* past participle:
- regular verbs → infinitive + –ed
- irregular verbs → 3rd column of the table of the irregular verbs