2. A verb is in the passive voice when it represents the subject as the receiver or the product of an action.

247. The passive voice of a verb is expressed by a verb-phrase made by prefixing some form of the copula (is, was, etc.) to the past participle.

In the passive voice of the complete tenses, the past participle been follows the proper form of the auxiliary have (as in the third example in [§ 246, 2]).

The passive of the infinitive is made by prefixing to be (perfect, to have been) to the past participle. Thus,—

248. The following table gives the conjugation of the verb strike in the active and passive of the six tenses:—

Active VoicePassive Voice
Present Tense
SINGULAR
1. I strike.1. I am struck.
2. Thou strikest.2. Thou art struck.
3. He strikes.3. He is struck.
PLURAL
1. We strike.1. We are struck.
2. You strike.2. You are struck.
3. They strike.3. They are struck.
Past Tense
SINGULAR
1. I struck.1. I was struck.
2. Thou struckest.2. Thou wast (or wert) struck.
3. He struck.3. He was struck.
PLURAL
1. We struck.1. We were struck.
2. You struck.2. You were struck.
3. They struck.3. They were struck.
Future Tense
SINGULAR
1. I shall strike.1. I shall be struck.
2. Thou wilt strike.2. Thou wilt be struck.
3. He will strike.3. He will be struck.
PLURAL
1. We shall strike.1. We shall be struck.
2. You will strike.2. You will be struck.
3. They will strike.3. They will be struck.
Perfect (or Present Perfect) Tense
SINGULAR
1. I have struck.1. I have been struck.
2. Thou hast struck.2. Thou hast been struck.
3. He has struck.3. He has been struck.
PLURAL
1. We have struck.1. We have been struck.
2. You have struck.2. You have been struck.
3. They have struck.3. They have been struck.
Pluperfect (or Past Perfect) Tense
SINGULAR
1. I had struck.1. I had been struck.
2. Thou hadst struck.2. Thou hadst been struck.
3. He had struck.3. He had been struck.
PLURAL
1. We had struck.1. We had been struck.
2. You had struck.2. You had been struck.
3. They had struck.3. They had been struck.
Future Perfect Tense
SINGULAR
1. I shall have struck.1. I shall have been struck.
2. Thou wilt have struck.2. Thou wilt have been struck.
3. He will have struck.3. He will have been struck.
PLURAL
1. We shall have struck.1. We shall have been struck.
2. You will have struck.2. You will have been struck.
3. They will have struck.3. They will have been struck.
Use of the Passive Voice

249. Any sentence of which the predicate is a transitive verb followed by an object, may be changed from the active to the passive form without affecting the sense.