“The Passive Voice: Mysterious but Marvellous” Newsletter 🕵️‍♂️

← Back to all posts

Where the action is done… but no one wants to admit who did it!

📚 So... What is the Passive Voice?

In normal (active) sentences, the subject does the action:
👉 "The cat ate my sandwich." 🐱🥪

But in the passive voice, the thing being acted upon comes first:
👉 "My sandwich was eaten by the cat."

🧠 FORMULA: be + past participle (by + agent – optional)

🧐 Why Do We Use It?

We don’t know who did the action.
🔍 “My phone was stolen.”
(Thief is a mystery... 👀)
We don’t care who did it – we care about what happened.
🏠 “The house was sold yesterday.”
(Congrats, but who bought it? Meh.)
We want to sound more formal or professional.
🧑‍⚖️ “The suspect was arrested last night.”
(Sounds serious, eh?)
To avoid blame.
🙊 “Mistakes were made...”
(Classic politician move.)

🔁 Tenses in the Passive (with Examples)

Tense	Example (Active)	Passive Version
Present Simple	They deliver the letters.	The letters are delivered.
Past Simple	She baked a cake.	A cake was baked.
Future	They will announce the winner.	The winner will be announced.
Present Perfect	Someone has stolen my bike!	My bike has been stolen! 🚲
Modal + Verb	They could cancel the match.	The match could be cancelled.
Past Continuous	They were building the bridge.	The bridge was being built.

📰 BREAKING NEWS – Passive Chaos in the Village! 📰

Written entirely in passive voice for extra mystery and flair

"A Strange Day in Little Muddlebottom"

This morning, the peace of Little Muddlebottom 🏡 was shattered when a series of strange events was reported by local residents.

At 7:03 AM, a giant inflatable duck 🦆 was spotted floating above the village green. Photos were taken, and several confused tourists were interviewed by the local paper.

Shortly afterwards, the mayor’s trousers were stolen from his washing line, and a ransom note was left (written in glitter pen, no less). No suspects have been arrested yet, but a clown was seen running from the scene.

Meanwhile, the town’s prized cheese sculpture 🧀 (a 3-foot statue of Queen Elizabeth) was knocked over by what’s believed to be a rogue goat. The goat has been detained for questioning.

Later in the day, the local pub was flooded when the beer taps were left open overnight. No injuries were reported, but several pints were sacrificed in the disaster. 🍺💧

The whole town has been left in shock, but the mayor insists that “order will be restored” and the duck will be deflated soon.

🤓 Passive vs Active – Quick Fix!

Active	Passive
The dog chased the cat.	The cat was chased by the dog.
Someone broke the window.	The window was broken.
They are painting the walls.	The walls are being painted.
She had written the letter.	The letter had been written.
They might finish it today.	It might be finished today.

🤔 So… Passive or Not?

Which of these are passive? (Answers at the bottom ⬇️)

The cake was eaten by a squirrel.
They’re fixing the car.
The report has been written.
She delivered the pizza.
The pizza was delivered late.

🧠 Passive Practice: Challenge Yourself!

Try finishing these passive sentences in your own funny way:

My favourite shoes were stolen by _______.
The cookies were baked, but then they were _______.
A new law has been passed to ban _______.
That weird smell was caused by _______.
The homework was mysteriously eaten by _______.

(Feel free to send me your funniest answers! 😂)

✅ Answers (Passive or Not):

✅ Passive
❌ Active
✅ Passive
❌ Active
✅ Passive

That’s it for today’s mystery-packed passive voice adventure. Now go forth and passive your sentences like a grammar ninja! 🥷💬