This post helps you understand how to use the Present perfect tense passive voice and when we use the passive voice in the Present perfect tense.

Active voice

Subject + has/have + past participle (V3) + object

Passive voice

Object + has/have + been + past participle (V3) + (by + subject)

Present perfect tense active passive structure

Look at the following examples:

• Active

  : She has cooked the food.

• Passive

  : The food has been cooked by her.

Both the above sentences are in the Present perfect tense and render the same meaning. But they are focusing on different things. 

The first sentence, which is in the active voice, focuses on the doer of the action (subject): she. But the second sentence, which is in the passive voice, focuses on the receiver of the action (object): the food.

In the Present perfect tense, we talk about completed actions, just to give the update of the action, or to talk about our life experiences. In the active voice of the present perfect tense, we talk about what someone has finished. The focus is on the doer of the action that has completed an action.

But in the passive voice of present perfect tense, we talk about what has been completed or finished; who has finished it is not important in the passive voice of present perfect tense.

active to passive voice in the present perfect tense

Active

to

passive

voice in Present Perfect tense

• Active voice:

  I

  have written

  an amazing song.

• Passive voice:

  An amazing song

  has been written

  (by me).

• Active voice:

  Jon

  has helped

  me a lot.

• Passive voice:

  I

  have been helped

  a lot (by Jon).

• Active voice:

  Most people

  have tried

  alcohol.

• Passive voice:

  Alcohol

  has been tried

  (by most people). 

• Active voice:

  Nobody

  has done

  this before.

• Passive voice:

  This

  has

  never

  been done

  before (by anyone).

• Active voice:

  My father

  has helped

  a lot of people.

• Passive voice:

  A lot of people

  have been helped

  (by my father).

• Active voice:

  I

  have ordered

  food for everyone in the room.

• Passive voice:

  Food

  has been ordered

  for everyone in the room (by me).

• Active voice:

  Mangesh

  has bought

  a car recently.

• Passive voice:

  A car

  has been bought

  recently (by Mangesh).

• Active voice:

  They

  have launched

  the trailer of the movie.

• Passive voice:

  The trailer of the movie

  has been launched

  (by them).

• Active voice:

  The government

  has launched

  a new job portal.

• Passive voice:

  A new job portal

  has been launched

  (by the government).

• Active voice:

  They have

  cleared

  the interview.

• Passive voice:

  The interview

  has been cleared

  (by them).

Negative sentences

Active voice

Subject + has/have + not + past participle (V3) + object

Passive voice

Object + has/have + not + been + past participle (V3) + (by + subject)Negative sentence in present perfect tense passive voice

Examples:

• Active voice:

  I

  haven’t made

  that lesson.

• Passive voice:

  That lesson

  hasn’t been made

  by me.

• Active voice:

  She

  hasn’t invited

  me to the party.

• Passive voice:

  I

  haven’t been invited

  to the party by her.

• Active voice:

  India

  hasn’t lost

  the match yet.

• Passive voice:

  The match

  hasn’t been lost

  yet by India.

• Active voice:

  They

  haven’t aired

  the interview yet.

• Passive voice:

  The interview

  hasn’t been aired

  yet by them.

• Active voice:

  They

  haven’t finished

  the song.

• Passive voice:

  The song

  hasn’t been finished

  (by them).

• Active voice:

  The cops

  haven’t caught

  the terrorist yet.

• Passive voice:

  The terrorist

  hasn’t been caught

  yet.

Contractions

Have not = haven’t
Has not = hasn’t

Interrogative sentences

Active voice

Has/have +subject + past participle (V3) + object?

Passive voice

Has/have + object + been + past participle (V3) + (by + subject)?Interrogative sentence in the present perfect tense passive voice

Examples:

• Active voice:

  Have

  you

  called

  him yet?

• Passive voice:

  Has

  he

  been called

  yet?

• Active voice:

  Has

  Jyoti

  invited

  you to the party?

• Passive voice:

  Have

  you

  been invited

  to the party by her?

• Active voice:

  Have

  you

  made

  the plan?

• Passive voice:

  Has

  the plan

  been made

  ?

• Active voice:

  Have

  they

  started

  the match?

• Passive voice:

  Has

  the match

  been started

  ?

Note: when the doer of the action is already understood or unimportant, don’t mention it. In some of the above examples of the passive voice, we haven’t mentioned the doer of the action (subject).

WH question words

Active voice: What have you done recently?
Passive voice: What has been done recently (by you)?

Active voice: How has she done it?
Passive voice: How has it been done (by her)?

Active voice: Where have you done it?
Passive voice: Where has it been done (by you)?

Active voice: Why has he bought this car?
Passive voice: Why has this car been bought (by him)?

Active voice: Whom have you taught?
Passive voice: Who has been taught (by you)?

Practice set!

Change the following sentences in the active voice into the passive voice of Present perfect tense:

1. We have adopted the dog.
2. Sam has never liked me.
3. Most people haven’t tasted this.
4. The teacher has started the lecture.
5. Have you seen him on campus?
6. My parents have supported me in whatever I do.
7. Has anyone kissed you yet?
8. Have they prepared the food?
9. Everyone has forgotten you already.
10. Your love has changed me completely.

Answers:

1. The dog has been adopted by us.
2. I have never been liked by Sam.
3. This hasn’t been tasted by most people.
4. The lecture has been by the teacher.
5. Has he been seen on campus (by you)?
6. I have been supported in whatever I do by my parents.
7. Have you been kissed yet (by anyone)?
8. Has the food been prepared (by them)?
9. You have been forgotten by everyone already.
10. I have been changed completely by your love.

Active voice to passive voice in Present Perfect tense

Past perfect continuous — passive voice

There are several reasons as to why we use the passive voice in English. In these notes, we are going to focus on the past perfect continuous in the passive voice. Generally, we use the passive when the focus is on the action and NOT on WHO or WHAT is performing the action.

Past perfect passive construction: had + been + being + past participle

Example verb: speak

I had been being spoken  We had been being spokenYou had been being spoken  You (guys) had been being spokenHe/she/it had been being spoken  They had been being spoken

The agent is unknown. We don’t know who or what is the agent 

• A flying object had been being observed for over two hours last Friday night.
• Something really bizarre had been being shown at the show.

We use the passive to emphasise the subject 

• My sisters were the ones who had been being employed by their boss.
• James had been the man being subjected to all the problems.

We use the passive to talk about general truths

• The earth had been being spun into orbit for as long as science knows.

We use the passive when we are unclear or vague about the subject 

• A computer virus had been being stabilised for five hours before the team operating the firewall managed to stop it from getting into the system.

We use the passive when the subject is irrelevant

(We don’t care who or what has caused the action to be). 

• Within the atmosphere, there was a strange substance that had been being mixed with oxygen.

We use the passive in a more formal atmosphere like a thesis or an important piece of writing, especially scientifically speaking

• During the experiment, atoms had been being smashed together with particles for a duration of thirty minutes.
• A very old equation in set theory had been being solved at the math quiz.

Lesson #31: Past perfect continuous – passive

Explanation

Construction: had + been + being + past participle (spoken,
translated)

Example verb: teach

I had
been being taught
 

We
had been being taught

You
had been being taught

You
(guys) had been being taught
He/she/it had been being taught      They had been being taught

Context

• Who had been being spoken to by the auditors last week?1
• They spoke to us and everything went smoothly.
• I hate being audited…
• Don’t worry. After everything had been being searched and filed the auditor told me that everything was in order2 and we won’t have anything to worry about.3
• That’s good news at least.
• Yes, definitely.
• Because last year, a friend who works for a similar company had been being audited4 for five months and it really gave him a lot of stress.
• Yes, that’s understandable.5 These things happen. One should just relax6 and sit tight.7
• You’re right about that.

Analysis

1. Who had been being spoken to by the auditors last week? ‘Had been being spoken to’ is the past perfect continuous in the passive voice. This verb form in the passive is rarely used and would be considered very much uncommon. The emphasis is on ‘who’, and the passive is used to focus on the action of ‘auditing’.
2. After everything had been being searched and filed the auditor told me that everything was in order. Again, the past perfect continuous in the passive voice is uncommon. Here ‘had been being searched’ is the past perfect continuous in the passive voice.
3. We won’t have anything to worry about. The future simple ‘won’t have’ is used to make a promise. We can use the future simple to make promises and predictions.
4. A friend who works for a similar company had been being audited for five months. ‘Had been being audited’ is the past perfect continuous in the passive voice being used here to describe the action of ‘being audited’.
5. That’s understandable. ‘Understandable’ is an adjective, and it’s being used with the main auxiliary verb ‘be’. We use ‘be’ with adjectives. I.e. I am hungry, tired, sleepy, funny etc.
6. One should just relax. In English, to talk about things in a general sense and to remain neutral you can use the pronoun ‘one’. I.e. one must behave prudent. One must be prudent. You can also you the subject pronoun ‘you’ to talk about things or people in a general sense, but it’s less neutral. I.e. you need to live well (everyone needs to live well).
7. Sit tight. This is an expression meaning ‘be patient and wait’.

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