These questions ask you to build or recognise a passive action that is under way now or was under way at a particular past moment. The action is unfinished at that reference point, and the sentence focuses on its receiver.
Locate the action, then build the chain
Start with the time marker. Expressions such as now, right now and at the moment point to a present action in progress; when or a stated past time points to an action that was in progress then. Next identify whether the receiving subject is singular or plural. Choose the agreeing form of be, add being, and finish with the past participle. Keep all three decisions visible instead of trying to recall the whole phrase at once.
| Signal and subject | Form to build |
|---|---|
| In progress now; third-person singular receiving subject | is + being + past participle |
| In progress now; you or a plural receiving subject (I takes am being) | are + being + past participle; with I the chain is am + being + past participle |
| In progress at a past moment; I or a third-person singular receiver | was + being + past participle |
| In progress at a past moment; you or a plural receiving subject | were + being + past participle |
Use the meaning as a final check. A continuous passive presents work in progress, so being is essential. The form before it carries time and agreement, while the word after it carries the participle form. If the sentence instead presents a finished result, a continuous form is the wrong branch even if its individual words are grammatical.
The traps
| Tempting form | How to reject it |
|---|---|
| been where being should follow is, are, was or were | Been is the perfect marker. An action explicitly under way needs being after the agreeing form of be. |
| being followed by been | The extra word mixes continuous and perfect chains. For the continuous passive, move directly from being to the past participle. |
| a base form after being | Every passive requires a past participle. Being shows progress, but it does not change the main verb into its required participle. |
| was with you or a plural receiver, or were with I or a third-person singular receiver | Past time does not remove number agreement. I and third-person singular receivers take was; you and plural receivers take were — singular you still takes were being. |
| an active form or a completed passive beside an in-progress signal | An active form gives the subject the action, while a perfect or simple passive loses the required ongoing viewpoint. Keep both the passive focus and the in-progress meaning. |
Try it
Use the be-passive form of the verb in brackets: The concert piano ___ at this moment. (tune)
Use the be-passive form of the verb in brackets: The costumes ___ when the photographer arrived. (steam)
Use the be-passive form of the verb in brackets: The patient records ___ right now during this morning's audit. (scan)