Questions in Passive
How do we form questions in Passive voice?
Questions in Passive are formed with to be and the past participle *.
1. Questions without questions words in Passive (Simple Present)
Form of be | Subject | past participle | Rest | Yes/No | Subject | Auxiliary (+ n't) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Is | the test | written | in room 311? | Yes, No, No, |
it it it |
is. is not. isn't. |
Are | grapes | grown | in California? | Yes, No, No, |
they they they |
are. are not. aren't. |
2. Questions with questions words in Passive (Simple Present)
Question word | Form of be | Subject | past participle | Rest | Answer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Where | is | the test | written? | The test is written in room 311. | |
Why | are | grapes | grown | in California? | Grapes are grown in California because it's warm and sunny. |
3. Questions without questions words in Passive (Simple Past)
Form of be | Subject | past participle | Rest | Yes/No | Subject | Auxiliary (+ n't) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Was | the book | taken | to the classroom? | Yes, No, No, |
it it it |
was. was not. wasn't. |
Were | the students | taught | at home? | Yes, No, No, |
they they they |
were. were not. weren't. |
4. Questions with question words in Passive (Simple Past)
Question word | Form of be | Subject | past participle | Rest | Answer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Where | was | the book | taken? | The book was taken to the classroom. | |
Why | were | the students | taught | at home? | The students were taught at home because the school was closed. |
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 house | been built? |
Past Perfect | Had | the house | been built? |
will-future | Will | the house | be built? |
going to-future | Is | the house | going to be built? |
Future Perfect | Will | the house | have been built? |
Conditional | Would | the house | be built? |
Conditional Perfect | Would | the house | have been built? |
And here are two progessive forms:
Tense | Auxiliary | Subject | Verb |
---|---|---|---|
Present Progressive | Is | the house | being built? |
Past Progressive | Was | the house | being built? |
* past participle:
- regular verbs → infinitive + -ed
- irregular verbs → 3rd column of the table of the irregular verbs