Verbs are words that are used with a subject to say what something/someone does or what happens to them, or simply to inform the observer about their state of being. These verbs can be used with various tenses depending on the time that the action happens. The past continuous tense is a verb tense that shows an action or event that was going on or continuing for a short period of time in the past. The past continuous tense in passive voice is used when you want to focus on the person or the thing that was receiving the action in the past.
How to Make Past Continuous Passive Sentences
In the passive voice of the Past Continuous tense, we focus on who/what was being acted upon or receiving the action at a certain time in the past. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. To form a sentence in passive voice of past continuous tense, we use the following rules:
We convert the object of the Active Voice Sentence into the subject of the Passive Voice Sentence.
We use the auxiliary verb was/were according to the subject of Passive Voice Sentence, which would be the object of the Active Voice Sentence.
We use the additional auxiliary verb “being” with was/ were, to show the continuous tense.
We use the past participle form of the verb.
We use the word “by”, to show the doer of the action.
We convert the subject of the Active Voice Sentence into the object after that.
We add the remaining words in the Active Voice sentence at last.
Past Continuous Passive Sentences
When forming a sentence in the past continuous tense passive voice, the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. To form a sentence in passive voice of past continuous tense, we use the following rules:
We convert the object of the Active Voice Sentence into the subject of the Passive Voice Sentence.
We use the auxiliary verb was/were according to the subject of Passive Voice Sentence, which would be the object of the Active Voice Sentence.
We use the additional auxiliary verb “being” with was/ were, to show the continuous tense.
We use the past participle form of the verb.
We use the word “by”, to show the doer of the action.
We convert the subject of the Active Voice Sentence into the object after that.
We add the remaining words in the Active Voice sentence at last.
The structure formula is:
Object of Active Sentence + was/were + being + past participle of main verb + by + Subject of Active Sentence
Positive Sentences
| Object | Auxiliary verb | Be | Main Verb | By + Subject |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Object | Was/were | Being | Past participle of the verb (V3) | I |
| Object | Was/were | Being | Past participle of the verb (V3) | You |
| Object | Was/were | Being | Past participle of the verb (V3) | We |
| Object | Was/were | Being | Past participle of the verb (V3) | They |
| Object | Was/were | Being | Past participle of the verb (V3) | He |
| Object | Was/were | Being | Past participle of the verb (V3) | She |
| Object | Was/were | Being | Past participle of the verb (V3) | It |
Active voice: I (Subject) + was (auxiliary verb) + buying (V+ -ing) + two sandwiches (Object).
Passive voice: Two sandwiches (Object) + were (Auxiliary verb) + being (V + -ing) + bought (V3) + by me (By + subject)
h2 Past Continuous Tense Positive Passive Examples:
Here are some positive sentence examples in Past Continuous Tense Passive voice:
Active voice: I was writing an amazing book.
Passive voice: An amazing book was being written (by me).
Active voice: I was helping Jim a lot .
Passive voice: Jim was being helped a lot (by me).
Active voice: She was buying two apples.
Passive voice: Two apples were being bought by her.
Active voice: My mother was baking the food.
Passive voice: The food was being baked by my mother.
Active voice: The teacher was reading the book.
Passive voice: The book was being read by the teacher.
Active voice: I was preparing pizza for everyone in the house.
Passive voice: Pizza was being prepared for everyone in the house (by me).
Active voice: Luke was buying a bike recently.
Passive voice: A bike was being bought recently (by Luka).
Past Continuous Tense Negative Passive Sentences
We use Past Continuous Tense Negative Passive Sentences to deny situations that were occurring and ongoing in the past. To form a negative sentence in passive voice of past continuous tense, we follow these steps:
We convert the object of the Active Voice Sentence into the subject of the Passive Voice Sentence.
We use the auxiliary verb was/were according to the subject of Passive Voice Sentence, which would be the object of the Active Voice Sentence.
We add “not” to make the sentence negative.
We use the additional auxiliary verb “being” with was/ were, to show the continuous tense.
We use the past participle form of the verb.
We use the word “by”, to show the doer of the action.
We convert the subject of the Active Voice Sentence into the object after that.
We add the remaining words in the Active Voice sentence at last.
The structure formula is:
Object of Active Sentence + was/were not + being + past participle of main verb + by + Subject of Active Sentence
| Object | Auxiliary verb Not | Be | Main Verb | By + Subject |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Object | Was/were + not | Being | Past participle of the verb (V3) | I |
| Object | Was/were + not | Being | Past participle of the verb (V3) | You |
| Object | Was/were + not | Being | Past participle of the verb (V3) | We |
| Object | Was/were + not | Being | Past participle of the verb (V3) | They |
| Object | Was/were + not | Being | Past participle of the verb (V3) | He |
| Object | Was/were + not | Being | Past participle of the verb (V3) | She |
| Object | Was/were + not | Being | Past participle of the verb (V3) | It |
Active voice: I (Subject) + was + not + buying + two sandwiches (Object).
Passive voice: Two sandwiches (Object) + were (Auxiliary verb) + not + being + bought (V3) + by me (By + subject).
Past Continuous Tense Negative Passive Examples:
Active voice: I was not writing an amazing book.
Passive voice: An amazing book was not being written (by me).
Active voice: I was not helping Jim a lot .
Passive voice: Jim was not being helped a lot (by me).
Active voice: She was not buying two apples.
Passive voice: Two apples were not being bought by her.
Active voice: My mother was not baking the food.
Passive voice: The food was not being baked by my mother.
Active voice: The teacher was not reading the book.
Passive voice: The book was not being read by the teacher.
Active voice: I was not preparing pizza for everyone in the house.
Passive voice: Pizza was not being prepared for everyone in the house (by me).
Active voice: Luke was not buying a bike recently.
Passive voice: A bike was not being bought recently (by Luka).
Passive Questions in Past Continuous Tense
To form passive questions in past continuous tense, we can follow these steps:
We use the auxiliary verb was/were according to the subject of the Passive Voice Sentence.
We convert the object of the Active Voice Sentence into the subject of the Passive Voice Sentence.
We use the additional auxiliary verb “being” with was/were, to show the continuous tense.
We use the past participle form of the verb.
Then we use the word “by”, to show the doer of the action.
Then we convert the subject of the Active Sentence into the object of the Passive Voice sentence.
We then put the remaining words if there are any.
At last, we use the sign of interrogation “?”.
For example:
Active: Was she eating the burger?
Passive: Was the burger being eaten by you?
| Auxiliary verb | Object | Be | Main Verb | By + Subject |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Was/Were | Object | Being | Past participle of the main verb | I |
| Was/Were | Object | Being | Past participle of the main verb | You |
| Was/Were | Object | Being | Past participle of the main verb | We |
| Was/Were | Object | Being | Past participle of the main verb | They |
| Was/Were | Object | Being | Past participle of the main verb | He |
| Was/Were | Object | Being | Past participle of the main verb | She |
| Was/Were | Object | Being | Past participle of the main verb | It |
Past Continuous Tense Passive Interrogative Examples:
Here are some positive passive interrogative examples in Past Continuous Tense:
Active Voice: Were they stopping him there?
Passive Voice: Was he being stopped by them there?
Active Voice: Were you drinking cold tea?
Passive Voice: Was cold drink being drunk by you?
Active Voice: Was she lighting two torches?
Passive Voice: Were two torches being lit by her?
Active Voice: Why was he not inviting her to the party?
Passive Voice: Why was she not being invited by him to the party?
Active Voice: Were they firing him at night?
Passive Voice: Was he being fired by them at night?
Active Voice: Was she divorcing him?
Passive Voice: Was he being divorced from her?
Negative Passive Interrogative Sentences in Past Continuous Tense
To form passive questions in past continuous tense, we can follow these steps:
We use the auxiliary verb was/were according to the subject of the Passive Voice Sentence.
We convert the object of the Active Voice Sentence into the subject of the Passive Voice Sentence.
We add “not” to make the sentence negative.
We use the additional auxiliary verb “being” with was/were, to show the continuous tense.
We use the past participle form of the verb.
Then we use the word “by”, to show the doer of the action.
Then we convert the subject of the Active Sentence into the object of the Passive Voice sentence.
We then put the remaining words if there are any.
At last, we use the sign of interrogation “?”.
For example:
a) Active Voice: Weren’t you eating a sandwich?
b) Passive Voice: Was the sandwich not being eaten by you?
| Auxiliary verb | Object | Not + Be | Main Verb | By + Subject |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Was/Were | Object | Not + Being | Past participle of the main verb | I |
| Was/Were | Object | Not + Being | Past participle of the main verb | You |
| Was/Were | Object | Not + Being | Past participle of the main verb | We |
| Was/Were | Object | Not + Being | Past participle of the main verb | They |
| Was/Were | Object | Not + Being | Past participle of the main verb | He |
| Was/Were | Object | Not + Being | Past participle of the main verb | She |
| Was/Were | Object | Not + Being | Past participle of the main verb | It |
Past Continuous Tense Negative Passive Interrogative Examples:
Here are some negative passive interrogative examples in Past Continuous Tense:
Active Voice: Were they not stopping him there?
Passive Voice: Was he not being stopped by them there?
Active Voice: Were you not drinking cold tea?
Passive Voice: Was cold drink not being drunk by you?
Active Voice: Was she not lighting two torches?
Passive Voice: Were two torches not being lit by her?
Active Voice: Why was he not inviting her to the party?
Passive Voice: Why was she not being invited by him to the party?
Active Voice: Were they not firing him at night?
Passive Voice: Was he not being fired by them at night?
Active Voice: Was she not divorcing him?
Passive Voice: Was he not being divorced from her?
Short Answers in Past Continuous Tense Passive
To form short answers in past continuous tense passive voice, we we can follow these steps:
We use “yes” or “no” according to the question.
We use the needed subject.
We use “was” or “were” according to the subject of the sentence..
We use the past participle form of the verb.
Positive Answers:
| Confirmation word | Subject | Auxiliary Verb |
|---|---|---|
| Yes, | I | Was/were |
| Yes, | You | Was/were |
| Yes, | We | Was/were |
| Yes, | They | Was/were |
| Yes, | He | Was/were |
| Yes, | She | Was/were |
| Yes, | It | Was/were |
Was the burger being eaten by you? / Yes, it was.
Was the homework being done by him? / Yes, it was.
Was the letter being sent? / Yes, it was.
Negative answers:
| Denial word | Subject | Auxiliary Verb |
|---|---|---|
| No, | I | Was/were + NOT |
| No, | You | Was/were + NOT |
| No, | We | Was/were + NOT |
| No, | They | Was/were + NOT |
| No, | He | Was/were + NOT |
| No, | She | Was/were + NOT |
| No, | It | Was/were + NOT |
Was the burger being eaten by you? / No, it wasn’t.
Was the homework being done by him? / No, it wasn’t.
Was the letter being sent? / No, it wasn’t.
Wh- Questions in Past Continuous Tense Passive
To ask for more specific information, we can include question words in our passive voice questions. These question words include “who, what, where, when, how etc.”. To ask a passive question in Past Continuous Tense with these question words, we need to follow this simple formula:
Wh- word + was/were+ object + being + past participle form of the verb (V3) + by + subject + ?
| Question Word | Auxiliary Verb | Object | Be | Verb | By + Subject |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who, what, where, when, how | Was/Were | Object | Being | V3 | He/She/It |
| You/We/They |
Here are some examples of Wh- question sentences in Past Continuous Tense Passive:
What was being eaten by you?
What was being drunk by him?
Who was being bullied ?
Who was being beaten?
Why were you being kicked?
Frequently Asked Questions About Past Continuous Tense Passive Voice
What are some examples of Past Continuous Passive Voice sentences?
Here are some examples for Past Continuous Passive voice sentences:
An amazing book was being written.
The kid was being bullied.
The bananas were being eaten.
What are some examples of negative Past Continuous Passive Voice sentences?
Here are some examples for negative Past Continuous Passive voice sentences:
Math was not being taught by Laura at high school.
He was not being invited by them.
I was not being helped.
What are some examples of interrogative Past Continuous Passive Voice sentences?
Here are some examples for interrogative Past Continuous Passive voice sentences:
Was the burger being eaten by you?
Was the homework being done by him?
Was the letter being sent?
What is the difference between active voice and passive voice?
In an active voice, the subject is performing the action. It is always known who is doing the action. In a passive voice, the subject is the receiver of the action. It is not always clear who is doing the action. To give the information about the carrier of the action, we use the preposition “by” followed by the agent of the action.
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