Past passive: questions
450 fill-in-the-gap exercises, 45 tests of ten
Move was or were in front of the subject. The past participle stays where it is.
The past participle is the third form in verb tables: written, gone, built. It never changes with the subject.
Practice this form
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Getting your first question ready.
The pattern
Swap the auxiliary and the subject:
The letters were sent. → Were the letters sent?
Short answers use was or were
Was the report finished? — Yes, it was. / No, it wasn’t.
Wh-questions
The question word goes first, then the swap:
- When was the church restored?
- Where were the photographs taken?
- Why was the meeting canceled?
Asking who did it
The preposition stays at the end in ordinary English:
Who was the letter signed by?
The front-placed version, By whom was the letter signed?, is correct but belongs to formal writing.
When who is the subject of a passive
If you are asking who received the action rather than who performed it, who takes the subject position and nothing swaps:
Who was arrested? — asking about the person the action happened to.
All forms
| Type | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| yes/no, singular | Was the bridge built in 1894? | Yes, it was. |
| yes/no, plural | Were the trees planted last spring? | Yes, they were. |
| wh-question | When was the first bridge built? | In 1894. |
| who by | Who was it written by? | By a student. |
Examples
Taken from the 450 sentences in this drill. The answer is highlighted.
- In what city was the Declaration of Independence signed?
- How many strings were used on a standard guitar?
- What was said about the missing documents?
- Were the streets in Rome paved with marble?
- Who was held responsible for the mistake?
- By whom were the important documents signed?
- Which singer was invited to the music awards?
- How were these letters delivered to the recipients?
- Was the concert attended by many people?
- How many languages were spoken in that country?
- What was done in response to the complaint?
- Why were the windows opened during the storm?
Mistakes to avoid
Wrong: Did the bridge was built in 1894? correct: Was the bridge built in 1894?
Did never appears with was or were.
Wrong: Where the documents were kept? correct: Where were the documents kept?
The auxiliary goes before the subject.