The bridge is the topic; its repair happened last autumn. The passive keeps attention on what was affected. It does not mean the action was less active or less important.

The idea

Use subject + was/were + past participle. Choose was for I/he/she/it, were for you/we/they. Add not for negatives and move was/were before the subject for questions. By names an agent; a recipient can also be the subject, as in I was offered a seat.

Examples

  • The bridge was repaired last autumn.
  • Two laptops were stolen from the office.
  • The invitations weren't sent until Tuesday.
  • Was the parcel delivered to the wrong address?
  • The winning design was chosen by the students.
  • I was offered a seat near the window.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic English voice on your device. Quality and availability vary; it does not assess pronunciation.

Watch out

Do not use did with this passive form or replace the participle with past simple: was chosen, not was chose. Omitting the agent does not prove that nobody knows who did it; the speaker may simply consider that information unnecessary.

Try it yourself

  1. Choose the correct option. The bridge ___ repaired last autumn. (was / were)

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    was

    Singular the bridge takes was. Repaired remains the participle; last autumn places the event in the past.

  2. Choose the correct option. The winning design was ___ by the students. (chosen / chose)

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    chosen

    The participle is chosen. Chose is past simple in an active sentence such as The students chose the design.

  3. Choose the correct option. ___ the parcel delivered to the wrong address? (Was / Did)

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    Was

    Move Was before singular the parcel. The passive already has auxiliary was, so no did is needed.

Use it today

Write a short report about a completed repair or delivery. Keep the same event and past time when changing an active sentence into a passive one. Include an agent only if you actually know it.