These questions ask you to build or recognise a passive form for completed work. You need to decide whether the completion matters now or happened before another past point, then make the verb agree with the receiving subject.
Build the form from the time signal
First find the time relationship. A completed result that is relevant now calls for the present perfect. Completion before a stated past event or deadline calls for the past perfect. Next identify the subject that receives the action and choose the first auxiliary. Finish with been and the past participle of the main verb. This order keeps time, agreement and voice as three separate checks.
| Signal and subject | Form to build |
|---|---|
| A completed result matters now; the receiving subject is third-person singular | has + been + past participle |
| A completed result matters now; the receiving subject is I, you or plural | have + been + past participle |
| The work was complete before another past point | had + been + past participle, for either singular or plural subjects |
Read the finished chain from left to right. The first word locates the completion and, in the present perfect, shows agreement. Been marks the passive part of the construction. The final word must be a past participle. If any link is missing or belongs to an ongoing construction, rebuild the chain rather than judging it by sound alone.
The traps
| Tempting form | How to reject it |
|---|---|
| has or have followed straight by the main participle | Without been, the phrase is active rather than a perfect passive. Check that the receiving subject is not made to sound like the performer. |
| being after has or have | Being belongs to a continuous passive. A result presented as complete needs perfect been in this position. |
| has with a plural subject, or has after I or you | The passive does not remove agreement. Has belongs to third-person singular receivers only; I, you and plural receivers take have before been. |
| a base form after been | Every passive ends with a past participle. A regular verb therefore needs its participle ending, not the unchanged base form. |
| a simple or continuous passive when one past event was already complete before another | Those forms can be passive, but they do not mark the earlier-completion relationship. The before or by-then signal requires had been plus the participle. |
Try it
Use the be-passive form of the verb in brackets: The front door ___ blue, and the completed change is visible now. (paint)
Use the be-passive form of the verb in brackets: All ballot papers ___ twice, and the completed count matters now. (count)
Use the be-passive form of the verb in brackets: The dining room ___ for the reception before the guests arrived. (decorate)