Passive Basic
- Not: Build present and past simple passive with be + V3.
- Not: Decide when to include or drop the by-agent.
- TR: Eylemi yapan degil, eylemden etkilenen onemliyse passive kullan.
Start the 8-question quizAdapts to your answers · every miss links back to the rule
Rule in 60 secondsThe one pattern to memorise.
- Form: be + past participle (V3). Tense lives in "be".
- Present: is/are + V3. Past: was/were + V3.
- TR: Etken ozne belli degilse ya da onemsizse passive dogaldir.
FormsHow it looks in sentences.
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | They make cars. | Cars are made here. |
| Past simple | They built it in 2000. | It was built in 2000. |
| Negative | They didn't invite us. | We weren't invited. |
| Question | Did they cancel it? | Was it cancelled? |
- Not: Agent with
byonly when the doer is important or surprising: - Not: "The bridge was designed by a young engineer."
- TR: Yapan kisi herkesce belliyse by kismini at.
- Spelling: cancelled, stopped, written, built — V3 forms matter.
- Questions: When was it built? Who was it written by?
- Örnek:
be + V3 (tense in BE) - Örnek:
English IS SPOKEN here. / The road WAS CLOSED yesterday. - Örnek:
The windows WEREN'T CLEANED. / WAS the thief CAUGHT?
3 classic trapsWhere Turkish speakers slip.
- Tuzak 1 — Wrong be-verb for the subject: ❌
The cars was repaired.→ ✅The cars were repaired. - TR: be fiili yeni ozneye (passive ozne) uyar.
- Tuzak 2 — Using active word order with passive verb: ❌
Was built the bridge in 1990?→ ✅Was the bridge built in 1990? - TR: Soru dizilimi: Was/Were + ozne + V3.
- Tuzak 3 — Keeping an unnecessary by-agent:
- Weak: The bread was baked by the baker. (obvious)
- Better: The bread was baked this morning.
- TR: Bariz faili soylemek gereksiz; zaman/yer bilgisi daha faydali.
10 example sentencesRead aloud, twice.
- English is spoken in many countries. — Ingilizce bircok ulkede konusulur.
- The bridge was built in 1995. — Kopru 1995'te insa edildi.
- The windows aren't cleaned every day. — Pencereler her gun temizlenmez.
- Was the thief caught last night?. — Hirsiz dun gece yakalandi mi?
- This car was made in Germany. — Bu araba Almanya'da uretildi.
- The homework wasn't checked yesterday. — Odev dun kontrol edilmedi.
- Turkish coffee is served in small cups. — Turk kahvesi kucuk fincanlarda servis edilir.
- The match was cancelled because of rain. — Mac yagmur yuzunden iptal edildi.
- Were you invited to the party?. — Partiye davet edildin mi?
- The museum is visited by thousands every year. — Muze her yil binlerce kisi tarafindan ziyaret edilir.
Quick checkCover the answers, say yours first.
- Soru 1: The room ___ (clean) every day. → is cleaned.
- Soru 2: The letter ___ (send) yesterday. → was sent.
- Soru 3: Fix: "The books was printed." → The books were printed.
- Soru 4: ___ the road closed last week? (Was/Were) → Was.
- Soru 5: Active → passive: "They grow tea here." → Tea is grown here.
- Soru 6: Active → passive: "She wrote the report." → The report was written.
- Soru 7: Fix: "Was built the school in 2000?" → Was the school built in 2000?
- Soru 8: Drop or keep? "Rice is grown by farmers." → drop (obvious).