Conjugation & verb forms: past simple (passive)
(Formation of the simple past tense in passive voice)
Table of contents – conjugation past simple (passive)
On this page you will find the following:
Formation of the past simple in passive voice
The passive forms of the simple past are derived from the past tense of the auxiliary verb ‘to be’ (i.e., ‘was’ or ‘were’) and the corresponding verb in the past participle. For the sake of convenience, the past participle is frequently called the 3rd form. This form ends in ‘-ed’ for regular verbs; the irregular ones are listed in the third column of the table of irregular verbs. Note that ‘did’ is never used for constructing the past simple passive of ‘to be’ compared to its active forms.
In negations and negative sentences, ‘was’ and ‘were’ are solely negated with ‘not’ and become ‘was not’ (short form: wasn’t) or ‘were not’ (short form: weren’t). Compare the following example sentences and the table below:
- Examples of passives of the past simple in sentences:
- “Jason was asked if he wanted to play in the national team.”
- Here, it is used with a regular verb and the ending ‘-ed’.
- “The two old houses at the end of the street were built in 1956.”
- This occurrence shows an irregular verb in the plural.
- “Jason was asked if he wanted to play in the national team.”
Passive verb forms of the past simple
Example verb: ‘to be born’
Positive/affirmative sentences
Person/pronoun | Positive | Short form | Interrogative form | Short form of question |
I/he/she/it | He was born. | – | Was he born? | – |
we/you/they | We were born. | – | Were we born? | – |
Negative sentences
Person/pronoun | Negative | Short form | Interrogative form | Short form of question |
I/he/she/it | She was not born. | She wasn’t born. | Was she not born? | Wasn’t she born? |
we/you/they | You were not born. | You weren’t born. | Were you not born? | Weren’t you born? |
Further explanations related to the topic ‘Formation of the past simple in passive voice’
The following explanations relate to the ‘Formation of the simple past tense (passive)’ and can also be helpful:
- Use of the past simple
- Formation of the past simple in active voice
- Exercise 1: past simple