Active and Passive Voice of Past Continuous Tense

We have already talked about active and passive voice of different tenses. In the article below I am going to elaborate the active and passive voice of past continuous tense. Structures for affirmative, Interrogative, negative, negative interrogative and WH/information questions are provided along with examples to be useful for ESL learners. In addition, click Active and Passive Voice Complete Rules, you might find this useful too.

Active and Passive Voice of Past Continuous Tense

Affirmatives

• Active: S + be2 + V1 ing + object + ROTS
  He was painting the wall yesterday.
• Passive: S + be2 + being + V3 + prep + object + ROTS
  The wall was being painted by him yesterday.

Interrogatives

• Active: Be2 + S + V1 ing + object + ROTS
  Were they painting the wall yesterday?
• Passive: Be + S + being + V3 + prep + object + ROTS
  Was the wall being painted by them yesterday?

Negatives

• Active: S + be2 + not + V1 ing + object + ROTS
  We were not painting the wall yesterday.
• Passive: S + be2 + not + being + V3 + prep + object + ROTS
  The wall was not/wasn`t being painted by us yesterday.

Negative interrogatives

• Active: Be not + S + V1 ing + object + ROTS
  Weren`t they painting the wall yesterday?
• Passive: Be not + S + being + V3 + prep + object + ROTS
  Wasn`t the wall being painted by them yesterday?

WH/Information questions

• Active: WH + be2 + S + V1 ing + object + ROTS
  When were they painting the wall?
• Passive: WH + be2 + S + being + V3 + prep + object + ROTS
  When was the wall being painted by them?

More Sentences:

Affirmative: 

• Active: They were taking an ESL test. 
• Passive: An ESL test was being taken by them.

Negative:

• Active: They weren’t taking an ESL test. 
• Passive: An ESL test wasn’t being taken by them.

Interrogative: 

• Active: Were they taking an ESL test?
• Passive: Was an ESL test being taken by them?

Negative Interrogative: 

• Active: Weren’t they taking an ESL test?
• Passive: wasn’t an ESL test being taken by them?

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Attempt Active and Passive Voice Exercise

Conclusion:

Would you like to know more about active and passive voice? Check out the useful articles below: