You already know that the passive is be + past participle. But real life does not stay in one tense. The hotel room is cleaned every day, it was cleaned an hour ago, it has been cleaned already, and it will be cleaned again tomorrow. If you can only make the passive in one tense, you can describe only a small slice of the world.

The good news: you do not learn a new passive for every tense. You keep one simple idea — the past participle never changes — and you move the time information into the 'be' part. Learners who see this trick suddenly find the whole passive system easy instead of frightening.

Here is the golden rule: in any passive sentence, the tense lives in the auxiliary verbs, and the main verb stays as a past participle forever. Take 'clean'. Present: 'The room is cleaned.' Past: 'The room was cleaned.' Future: 'The room will be cleaned.' Present perfect: 'The room has been cleaned.' In every version, 'cleaned' never moves — only the words before it change.

Think of it as a chain. Start from the active tense and swap the main verb for 'be' in the same tense, then add the past participle. Active 'They are painting the house' uses 'are painting', so passive uses 'is being painted': 'The house is being painted.' Active 'They have painted it' uses 'have painted', so passive uses 'has been painted': 'It has been painted.' The chain gets longer, but the ending is always the participle.

The perfect passive causes the most trouble, so look at it closely. 'The room has been cleaned' has three parts: has (perfect) + been (the participle of 'be') + cleaned (the main participle). Learners often drop 'been' and say 'The room has cleaned', but that is an active sentence with the wrong meaning — it sounds like the room did the cleaning. Keep the full chain: has/have + been + past participle.

For the future and with modal verbs, use the base form 'be': 'The order will be delivered on Friday', 'This form must be signed', 'The tickets can be collected at the desk.' The pattern is modal + be + past participle. Notice again: the time or the idea (will, must, can) sits at the front, and the participle just waits at the end.

How do you choose the tense? Exactly the same way as in active sentences. Every day or usually → present simple passive ('is checked'). Finished past time → past simple passive ('was checked'). Result that matters now → present perfect passive ('has been checked'). Happening right now → present continuous passive ('is being checked'). The passive does not change your tense logic; it only changes who sits at the front of the sentence.

1. 1. The office is locked at nine every night.

   Present simple passive for a routine: is + locked.

2. 2. My order was shipped two days ago.

   Past simple passive with a finished-time phrase, 'two days ago'.

3. 3. Your application has been received.

   Present perfect passive: has + been + participle; the result matters now.

4. 4. The road is being repaired this week.

   Continuous passive: is + being + repaired for work in progress.

5. 5. The results will be announced on Monday.

   Future passive: will + be + participle, and 'be' stays in base form.

6. 6. Has your visa been approved yet?

   Perfect passive question: Has + subject + been + participle.

7. 7. The invoices haven't been paid this month.

   Negative perfect passive; 'not' attaches to 'have', and 'been' stays.

8. 8. Dinner was being prepared when we arrived.

   Past continuous passive: was + being + prepared for a background action.

9. 9. This medicine must be taken after meals.

   Modal passive: must + be + participle, common in instructions.

10. 10. The flight schedule is updated every hour.

    Present simple passive for a repeated automatic action.

11. 11. All the cookies have been eaten already.

    Plural subject, so 'have been eaten'; 'already' fits the perfect.

12. 12. When was this castle built?

    Past passive question about history: When + was + subject + built.

13. 13. The rubbish is collected on Tuesdays.

    Timetable fact in present passive; the collectors are obvious.

14. 14. Your car can be fixed by Friday.

    Modal 'can' plus 'be fixed'; the 'by' here marks time, not a doer.

15. 15. The winners are going to be chosen tonight.

    'Going to' future passive: going to + be + chosen.

Mistake one: losing a link in the chain. Learners say 'The room has cleaned already' instead of 'The room has been cleaned already.' The word 'been' is the passive marker inside the perfect; without it, the room becomes the cleaner. The same happens in the continuous: 'The road is repairing' should be 'The road is being repaired.' Rule: count your links — perfect passive has three (has/have + been + participle), continuous passive has three (be + being + participle).

Mistake two: changing the participle instead of the auxiliary. Some learners try 'The letter will sent' or 'The letter will be send.' The tense never touches the main verb. Keep 'will be' and keep the participle: 'The letter will be sent.' If you are unsure of the participle (send → sent, write → written), that is a vocabulary job — learn the third form of common verbs.

Mistake three: mixing time words and tenses. 'The package was delivered yet' sounds wrong because 'yet' belongs with the perfect: 'The package hasn't been delivered yet.' And 'has been delivered yesterday' fails because 'yesterday' is finished time and needs the past: 'was delivered yesterday.' Choose the tense first, exactly as you would in an active sentence, then build the passive chain.

• The past participle never changes; the tense lives in the auxiliaries.
• Perfect passive = has/have + been + participle. Never skip 'been'.
• Continuous passive = be + being + participle.
• Modal or future: will/can/must + be + participle, with 'be' in base form.
• Pick the tense with the same logic as active sentences, then convert.
• Say the chain out loud: 'has been cleaned, is being cleaned, will be cleaned.'