The passive voice is used when the agent (the person doing the action) is not important for the sentence. The opposite, the "normal" form is called the active voice.

All passives use the perfect participle of the verb. For the verb to write it is "written".
This is used with the verb "to be".

The passive voice is used when the agent (the person doing the action) is not important for the sentence. The opposite, the "normal" form is called the active voice.

All passives use the perfect participle of the verb. For the verb to give it is "given".
This is used with the verb "to be":

I was given You were given He/she/it was given	We were given You were given They were given

Examples of changes from active to passive:

Active: When did they elect George Brown to be Prime Minister;
The word "they" is not relevant so it is better to say:
Passive: When was George Brown elected PrimeMinister?
He was never elected: He took over from Tony Blair without an election.

Active: They sold 10,000 copies of the newspaper last Sunday.
The word "they" doesn't give any real information: it is better to say:
Passive: 10,000 copies of the newspaper were sold last Sunday .

Here are the affirmative, negative and question forms of the passive in another example:

When was the Channel flown for the first time?

Was the Magna Carta signed in London?
No, it wasn't signed in London.
It was signed on the Island of Runnymead in the Thames.
And when was it signed?
It was signed in 1215.

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