29+ Passive Verb Examples:Sentences,Uses And Detailed Explanations

This article will deal with passive verbs. You will get to know what passive verbs are and their uses with the help of passive verb examples which are listed below.

Passive verbs are verbs where the subject of the sentence does not do the action, but instead the subject receives the action. When passive verbs are used, the subject becomes the one that undergoes the action.

Let us understand about passive verbs with the help of the 30+ passive verb examples.

• 1. The house was built by an experienced engineer.
• 2. The lunch is being prepared by the cooks.
• 3. Megha was given a surprise by Rashi.
• 4. I was taken care of by my grandparents.
• 5. This dress was stitched by my mother.
• 6. The accused is being questioned by the police.
• 7. The visitors are requested to keep off the lawn.
• 8. The tap was repaired by the plumber today morning.
• 9. The street has not been cleaned since yesterday.
• 10. Ice creams are loved by almost all children.
• 11. An umbrella must be carried during rainy days.
• 12. The hostel has been vacated by the inmates.
• 13. These toys can be played with quite safely by the children.
• 14. Your car is being towed by the traffic police.
• 15. These cookies were made by my sister.
• 16. India is known for its cultural heritage and diversity.
• 17. The Last Supper, a mural painting was painted by Leonardo da Vinci.
• 18. French was learnt by her last year.
• 19. A new library is being built in the city.
• 20. The papers will be signed by the manager tomorrow.
• 21. Justice must be provided before it is too late.
• 22. She was sent an offer letter by a reputed law firm.
• 23. The match was called off because of the heavy rains.
• 24. The house was cleaned in one day by my mother.
• 25. Money was donated to the orphanage by Rakul every month.
• 26. The exam papers were evaluated by our class teacher.
• 27. The Taj Mahal is visited by thousands of tourists every year.
• 28. This work will be done by my team mates.
• 29. The match will be won by you tomorrow.
• 30. A new branded watch was gifted to her.
• 31. He is suspected of stealing the money by the cops.

Passive Verb Use

Passive verbs are used when we want to stress or give importance to the person or thing that is receiving the action rather than the one that is performing the action. Passive verbs are also used when one wants to highlight the action being performed rather than the doer of the action. Passive verbs are used in passive voice sentences.

Passive Voice Sentences With Detailed Explanations

Now it is time we look in detail at each sentence to identify the passive verbs and understand them.

1. The house was built by an experienced engineer.

‘Was built’ is the passive verb here because the subject, house is not doing the action, but is receiving the action, was built.

2. The lunch is being prepared by the cooks.

The passive verb in this sentence is ‘is being prepared’. Here the emphasis is on the lunch and it is the one that is receiving the action.

3. Megha was given a surprise by Rashi.

‘Was given’ is the passive verb and it highlights Megha receiving the surprise rather than Rashi giving it.

4. I was taken care of by my grandparents.

The passive verb here is ‘was taken’. The passive verb stresses more on I, the one who receives the action that, my grandparents, the one who is doing the job.

5. This dress was stitched by my mother.

‘Was stitched’ is the passive verb as it emphasizes on the dress rather than the one who stitched it.

6. The accused is being questioned by the police.

The passive verb here is ‘is being questioned’ as it talks more about the one who is questioned (the accused) than the one who is questioning (the police).

7. The visitors are requested to keep off the lawn.

‘Are requested’ is the passive verb as the subject visitors are not doing any action but are receiving the action.

8. The tap was repaired by the plumber today morning.

‘Was repaired’ is the passive verb and the subject, the tap is the one that is undergoing the action.

9. The street has not been cleaned since yesterday.

The passive verb in this sentence is ‘has not been cleaned’. The stress here is more on the streets and less on those who will be cleaning it.

10. Ice creams are loved by almost all children.

‘Are loved’ is the passive verb and it stresses more on what is loved rather than who likes it.

11. An umbrella must be carried during rainy days.

The passive verb is ‘must be carried’ as the subject receives the action.

12. The hostel has been vacated by the inmates.

‘Has been vacated’ is the passive verb in this sentence as it gives stress to the action of vacating rather than the people who are vacating, the inmates.

13. These toys can be played with quite safely by the children.

‘Can be played’ is the passive verb here because the subject, these toys does not do any action, but is the one that receives the action.

14. Your car is being towed by the traffic police.

The passive verb is ‘being towed’ and the subject your car undergoes the action, though it does not perform any action.

15. These cookies were made by my sister.

‘Were made’ is the passive verb here as it highlights more on the cookies that receives the action rather than my sister who performs the action.

16. India is known for its cultural heritage and diversity.

‘Is known’ is the passive verb and India is the subject that receives the action.

17. The Last Supper, a mural painting was painted by Leonardo da Vinci.

The passive verb in this sentence is ‘was painted’ and the verb highlights on the subject, The Last Supper, a mural painting rather than Leonardo da Vinci, the one who has performed the action.

18. French was learnt by her last year.

‘Was learnt’ is the passive verb and French is the subject that receives the action in this sentence.

19. A new library is being built in the city.

‘Is being built’ is the passive verb and the stress is on the subject which receives the action than the one who is performing the actions.

20. The papers will be signed by the manager tomorrow.

‘Will be signed’ is the passive verb because here the papers are given more importance, than the manager who is performing the action of signing.

21. Justice must be provided before it is too late.

‘Must be provided’ is the passive verb and justice is the subject that is receiving the action.

22. She was sent an offer letter by a reputed law firm.

The passive verb is ‘was sent’ and it highlights on the subject, she who is receiving the action than the reputed law firm who is performing the action.

23. The match was called off because of the heavy rains.

‘Was called off’ is the passive verb and it stresses on the match which is receiving the action and not on those who called off the match.

24. The house was cleaned in one day by my mother.

The passive verb is ‘was cleaned’. The action is received by the subject the house. It gives less stress on the mother who performed the cleaning.

25. Money was donated to the orphanage by Rakul every month.

‘Was donated’ is the passive verb and it highlights the action more than the doer of the action.

26. The exam papers were evaluated by our class teacher.

The passive verb is ‘were evaluated’. The action is received by the subject, the exam papers.

27. The Taj Mahal is visited by thousands of tourists every year.

‘Is visited’ is the passive verb here and it stresses more on the action than the people who are performing the action of visiting.

28. This work will be done by my team mates.

‘Will be done’ is the passive verb and the action is received by the subject this work.

29. The match will be won by you tomorrow.

The passive verb is ‘will be won’ and it gives more importance to the match and winning than the one who will be performing the action of winning.

30. A new branded watch was gifted to her.

‘Was gifted’ is the passive verb and it shows that the subject is receiving the action and no importance is given to the one who has gifted her.

31. He is suspected of stealing the money by the cops.

The passive verb ‘is suspected’ stresses more on the one who is receiving the action (he) rather than the one who is performing the action of suspecting (cops).