How to Change Active to Passive Voice in Present Continuous Tense

The present continuous tense is used to describe actions that are happening right now or around the present time. When a sentence is changed from active voice to passive voice in the present continuous tense, the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. The main verb changes into its past participle form (V3), and the structure is / am / are being is used as helping verbs.

Structure of Active Voice and Passive Voice in Present Continuous Tense

• Active Voice:

Subject + is / am / are + Verb-ing + Object

• Passive Voice:

Object + is / am / are being + Verb (V3) (+ by + Subject)

Helping Verbs in Present Continuous Passive

• is being → used with singular third-person subjects (he, she, it, singular nouns)
• am being → used with first-person singular (I)
• are being → used with plural subjects (we, you, they, plural nouns)

Examples of Positive Sentences

• Active: She is writing a letter.
• Passive: A letter is being written by her.
• Active: They are playing football.
• Passive: Football is being played by them.
• Active: I am cleaning the room.
• Passive: The room is being cleaned by me.

Examples of Negative Sentences

• Active: She is not writing a letter.
• Passive: A letter is not being written by her.
• Active: They are not playing football.
• Passive: Football is not being played by them.
• Active: I am not cleaning the room.
• Passive: The room is not being cleaned by me.

Examples of Interrogative Sentences

• Active: Is she writing a letter?
• Passive: Is a letter being written by her?
• Active: Are they playing football?
• Passive: Is football being played by them?
• Active: Am I cleaning the room?
• Passive: Is the room being cleaned by me?

More Examples for Better Understanding

• Active: The teacher is teaching English.
• Passive: English is being taught by the teacher.
• Active: The chef is cooking food.
• Passive: Food is being cooked by the chef.
• Active: The teacher is not teaching French.
• Passive: French is not being taught by the teacher.
• Active: The chef is not cooking rice.
• Passive: Rice is not being cooked by the chef.
• Active: Is the teacher teaching English?
• Passive: Is English being taught by the teacher?
• Active: Is the chef cooking food?
• Passive: Is food being cooked by the chef?

Key Points to Remember

• Passive voice in the present continuous tense uses is / am / are being + past participle (V3).
• This tense shows that an action is in progress.
• The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
• For negative sentences, place not after is / am / are.
• For interrogative sentences, place is / am / are at the beginning of the sentence.
• “By + subject” can be omitted if the doer is not important.