Passive Form

In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the
sentence and the thing doing the action is optionally included near the end
of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you think that the thing
receiving the action is more important or should be emphasized. You can
also use the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if
you do not want to mention who is doing the action.
Use of the passive voice is not a grammatical error. Its a stylistic issue
that pertains to claritythat is, there are times when using the passive
voice can prevent a reader from understanding what you mean.
The passive voice entails more than just using a being verb. Using to be
can weaken the impact of your writing, but it is occasionally necessary and
does not by itself constitute the passive voice.
[Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing
doing action]
When use the passive voice
In some sentences, passive voice can be perfectly acceptable. You might
use it in the following cases:
1. The actor is unknown:
2. The actor is irrelevant:
3. You want to be vague about who is responsible:
4. You are talking about a general truth:
5. You want to emphasize the person or thing acted on. For example, it
may be your main topic:
6. You are writing in a scientific genre that traditionally relies on passive
voice. Passive voice is often preferred in lab reports and scientific
research papers, most notably in the Materials and Methods section:

Identify
Look for the passive voice: to be + a past participle (usually, but not
always, ending in -ed)
If you dont see both components, move on.
Does the sentence describe an action? If so, where is the actor? Is
he/she/it in the grammatical subject position (at the front of the
sentence) or in the object position (at the end of the sentence, or missing
entirely)?
Does the sentence end with by? Many passive sentences include the
actor at the end of the sentence in a by phrase, like The ball was
hit by the player or The shoe was chewed up by the dog. By by
itself isnt a conclusive sign of the passive voice, but it can prompt you
to take a closer look.
Evaluate
Is the doer/actor indicated? Should you indicate him/her/it?
Does it really matter whos responsible for the action?
Would your reader ask you to clarify a sentence because of an issue
related to your use of the passive?
Do you use a passive construction in your thesis statement?
Do you use the passive as a crutch in summarizing a plot or history, or
in describing something?
Do you want to emphasize the object?
Revise
If you decide that your sentence would be clearer in the active voice,
switch the sentence around to make the subject and actor one. Put the
actor (the one doing the action of the sentence) in front of the verb.
Passive voice has three characteristics:
There is always a form of the verb to be.
There is always a past participle.
The subject is being acted upon; the subject is NOT actin
Examples
Harry ate six shrimp at dinner. (active)
At dinner, six shrimp were eaten by Harry. (passive)
Beautiful giraffes roam the savannah. (active)
The savannah is roamed by beautiful giraffes. (passive)
Sue changed the flat tire. (active)
The flat tire was changed by Sue. (passive)
We are going to watch a movie tonight. (active)
A movie is going to be watched by us tonight. (passive)
I ran the obstacle course in record time. (active)
The obstacle course was run by me in record time. (passive)
The crew paved the entire stretch of highway. (active)
The entire stretch of highway was paved by the crew. (passive)
Mom read the novel in one day. (active)
The novel was read by Mom in one day. (passive)
The critic wrote a scathing review. (active)
A scathing review was written by the critic. (passive)
I will clean the house every Saturday. (active)
The house will be cleaned by me every Saturday. (passive)
The staff is required to watch a safety video every year. (active)
A safety video will be watched by the staff every year. (passive)
exercises
1-The documents / print 1. The documents are printed.
2-The window / open 2- The window is opened
3-The shoes / buy 3- . The shoes are bought
4-The car / wash 4- The car is washed.
5-The litter / throw away 5-The litter is thrown away.
6-The letter / send 6- The letter is sent.
7-the lights / switch on 7. The lights were switched on.
8-the house / build 8.The house was built.
9-dinner / serve 9. Dinner was served.
10-this computer / sell / not 10.This computer was not sold
11-the car / stop / not 11-The car was not stopped

1 What time did the two men enter the bank? (enter)
At 4.30.

2 What were the customers and bank clerks asked to do? (ask)
They were asked to lie down on the floor.

3 What was one of the clerks made to do ? (make to do)
To fill the robbers' bags with money.

4 How much money has been stolen by the robbers? (steal)
More than 200,000 pounds.

5 How long will the bank be closed ? (close)
It will be closed for two days.