It’s useful to review the way the verb "be" changes in various tenses when you study the passive voice. Look at the charts below. A past participle following the verb "be" forms the passive voice.
Present Tense – Be
Singular
Plural
I am
We are
You are
You are
He is
She is
They are
It is
To make the negative, use "not"
Students are told what to do by the teacher.
Present Continuous Tense – Be
Singular
Plural
I am being
We are being
You are being
You are being
He is being
She is being
They are being
It is being
To make the negative, use "not" — She isn’t being….
He’s being fed by his mother.
Past Tense – Be
Singular
Plural
I was
We were
You were
You were
He was
She was
They were
It was
To make the negative, use "not" — was not / wasn’t; were not / weren’t
My pants were ironed
by my wife.
Past Continuous Tense – Be
Singular
Plural
I was being
We were being
You were being
You were being
He was being
She was being
They were being
It was being
To make the negative, use "not"– you weren’t being….
It was loud outside our office yesteday because the streets were being worked on.
Future Tense – Be
Singular
Plural
I will be
We will be
You will be
You will be
He will be
She will be
They will be
It will be
To make the negative, use "will" + "not" = will not be / won’t be
If you want some pie, get it now because all of it will be eaten by tomorrow.
"Going to" Future Tense – Be
Singular
Plural
I am going to be
We are going to be
You are going to be
You are going to be
He is going to be
She is going to be
They are going to be
It is going to be
To make the negative, use "not" after "am," "are," or "is," or use a contraction.
He’s going to be seriously hurt if he’s not careful.
Present Perfect Tense – Be
Singular
Plural
I have been
We have been
You have been
You have been
He has been
She has been
They have been
It has been
To make the negative…
use "have" + "not" = have not / haven’t; has not / hasn’t been
That song has been sung by many different performers.
Past Perfect Tense – Be
Singular
Plural
I had been
We had been
You had been
You had been
He had been
She had been
They had been
It had been
To make the negative, use "had" + "not" = had not / hadn’t been
Many different computer programs had been tried at that company before they found one that they could depend on.
Future Perfect Tense – Be
Singular
Plural
I will have been
We will have been
You will have been
You will have been
He will have been
She will have been
They will have been
It will have been
To make the negative, use "will" + "not" = will not / won’t + have been
By this time next year, this car will have been driven over 100,000 miles.
In the next lesson, you will learn to use "be" + "used."