Advanced Passive Structures in English

In Brief

English has several passive patterns beyond be + past participle. With some two-object verbs, either object can become the passive subject (She was given a refund / A refund was given to her); have/get + object + past participle means arranging a service or experiencing an event; and get + past participle often presents a change or event in a more informal, dynamic way (The window got broken).

Overview

The basic passive shifts attention from the person who performs an action to the person or thing affected by it: Someone repaired the lift becomes The lift was repaired. At B2, you can build on that foundation by choosing among several structures according to what you want to emphasize.

This article covers three central patterns. First, verbs such as give, send, and tell can have two objects, which creates two possible passives. Second, have something done and get something done usually describe arranging for another person to perform a service. Third, the get-passive uses get instead of be and often highlights an event, a change, or what happened to someone.

A subject is the person or thing that the clause is built around. An object is a person or thing affected by the verb. A past participle is the verb form used in passives and perfect forms, such as given, repaired, or broken. These labels help describe the patterns, but the practical question is simpler: which participant should your sentence put first?

How It Works

Passives with two objects

Some active clauses contain a direct object (the thing transferred or communicated) and an indirect object (the recipient). In They gave Maya a refund, a refund is the thing and Maya is the recipient.

Pattern	Structure	Example
Active	agent + verb + recipient + thing	They gave Maya a refund.
Recipient passive	recipient + be + past participle + thing	Maya was given a refund.
Thing passive	thing + be + past participle + to + recipient	A refund was given to Maya.

The recipient passive is especially natural when the recipient is a person and is already the topic: We were offered free tickets. The thing passive puts the item or information first and normally requires a preposition: Free tickets were offered to us.

Common verbs that allow this alternation include give, offer, send, show, teach, tell, lend, pay, and award. The correct preposition depends on the active pattern:

• They gave the prize to Lena → The prize was given to Lena.
• They bought a laptop for Lena → A laptop was bought for Lena.

Not every verb allows a natural recipient passive. Explain normally uses explain something to someone, so say The process was explained to us, not We were explained the process. Similar care is needed with describe, mention, and suggest.

The form of be carries the tense and can combine with modal verbs; the participle remains unchanged:

Time or meaning	Recipient passive	Thing passive
Present simple	Staff are given an ID card.	An ID card is given to each employee.
Past simple	I was told the news.	The news was told to me.
Present perfect	We have been offered a refund.	A refund has been offered to us.
Modal	You may be asked a question.	A question may be asked of you.

Although The news was told to me is grammatical, I was told the news is much more idiomatic. Grammatical alternatives are not always equally common.

Have something done

Use have + object + past participle when the subject arranges for another person to do something:

subject + have (in the required tense) + object + past participle

• I had my car repaired.
• We are having the kitchen painted.
• She will have the documents translated.

The subject usually does not perform the action. I repaired my car says that I did the work; I had my car repaired normally says that I arranged for a mechanic or another person to do it. The worker can be added with by, but is often unimportant: We had the alarm installed by a local company.

Because have is the finite verb (the verb marked for tense), it changes for time and agreement:

Form	Example
Present simple	I have my eyes tested every year.
Present continuous	She is having her hair done.
Past simple	We had the roof repaired.
Present perfect	He has had the lock replaced.
Future	They will have the heating checked.
Modal	You should have that cut examined.

This construction can also describe an unwanted experience rather than an arranged service: He had his wallet stolen. Context tells us that he did not arrange the theft. Here the subject experiences the result.

Get something done

Get + object + past participle often has the same service meaning as have something done:

• I need to get my phone fixed.
• She's getting her hair done.
• We finally got the contract signed.

Get is generally more conversational. It can also suggest effort, progress, or successful completion. We got the contract signed may imply that achieving the result required persistence; We had the contract signed more neutrally describes the arrangement.

Do not confuse this pattern with get + person + to-infinitive:

• I got the printer repaired. = I arranged for the printer to be repaired.
• I got Alex to repair the printer. = I persuaded or caused Alex to repair it.

The get-passive

In the get-passive, the affected person or thing is the subject:

subject + get + past participle

• The window got broken during the storm.
• Two hikers got rescued before dark.
• He got promoted last month.

Like be, get changes for tense: gets damaged, got damaged, has gotten damaged (especially North American English), has got damaged (possible in British English), or might get damaged. The participle does not change.

The get-passive often emphasizes the event or transition into a new state. Compare:

• The door was closed. This can describe a state or an event.
• The door got closed. This strongly suggests that a closing event occurred, perhaps unexpectedly.

Some combinations with get are close to adjective phrases rather than clear passives: get tired, get angry, get ready. They describe a change of state and do not necessarily imply that an outside agent acted. A useful test is whether an active counterpart is plausible: Someone broke the window supports a passive reading of The window got broken; someone tired me usually does not explain ordinary I got tired.

Examples in Context

English example	Meaning in plain English	Note
I was told the news after lunch.	Someone told me the news after lunch.	Recipient passive
Every new employee is given a security badge.	The company gives each new employee a badge.	Recipient is the topic
A copy of the invoice was sent to me.	Someone sent me a copy of the invoice.	Thing passive with to
The winner will be awarded a scholarship.	Someone will award the winner a scholarship.	Future recipient passive
We have been offered a later flight.	The airline has offered us another flight.	Present perfect passive
I had my car repaired before the trip.	I arranged for someone to repair my car.	Completed service
We're having the spare room painted this week.	A painter is painting it by arrangement.	Service in progress
You should have your blood pressure checked.	You should arrange for a professional to check it.	Advice with a modal
She had her bike stolen outside the station.	Someone stole her bike; she experienced the loss.	Unwanted event, not a service
She's getting her hair done for the wedding.	A stylist is doing her hair.	Conversational service pattern
Can you get these forms printed by noon?	Can you arrange for the forms to be printed?	Focus on achieving a result
The window got broken during the move.	The window was broken while things were being moved.	Event-focused get-passive
He got promoted after only six months.	The company promoted him after six months.	Affected person as subject
Don't stand there—you could get hurt.	Something could hurt you.	Warning about a possible event
Our bags got soaked on the way home.	The rain made our bags completely wet.	Change of state; agent is unimportant

Common Mistakes

Keeping the active verb after a passive subject

• Wrong: I was told me the news.
• Right: I was told the news.
• Why: I is already the recipient and passive subject. Do not repeat it as an object.

Using a recipient passive with a verb that does not allow it

• Wrong: We were explained the new policy.
• Right: The new policy was explained to us.
• Why: Explain follows the pattern explain something to someone. Unlike tell, it does not normally form a passive with the recipient as subject.

Forgetting the preposition in a thing passive

• Wrong: A refund was offered me.
• Right: A refund was offered to me.
• Why: When the transferred thing becomes the subject, the recipient usually follows to. The version without to exists in formal or older styles with a few verbs, but it is not the safest general pattern.

Using the infinitive instead of the past participle

• Wrong: I had my laptop repair.
• Right: I had my laptop repaired.
• Why: The service pattern requires an object followed by a past participle: have + laptop + repaired.

Making the customer the performer

• Wrong: I had repaired my car yesterday when you mean that a mechanic did it.
• Right: I had my car repaired yesterday.
• Why: Had repaired is the past perfect and says that I did the repair. Putting the object between had and repaired creates the service construction.

Using a get-passive in an unsuitable formal context

• Less suitable: The application got rejected because it was incomplete.
• More formal: The application was rejected because it was incomplete.
• Why: The get-passive is common in conversation, but formal reports and official notices generally prefer the neutral be-passive.

Usage Notes

Choosing between recipient and thing

Choose the passive subject that connects best to the surrounding discussion. If a paragraph is about customers, Customers are sent a confirmation email keeps customers as the topic. If it is about automated emails, A confirmation email is sent to each customer keeps the email central. English often prefers a person as subject, so recipient passives are frequent in everyday speech.

Choosing between have and get

For arranged services, both forms are standard. Have is neutral and works comfortably in formal and informal English. Get is more conversational and may imply effort or a completed goal. Compare We had the report translated with We finally got the report translated. The word finally strengthens the sense that completion was difficult or delayed.

Choosing between be and get

The be-passive is the neutral choice and works in every register. The get-passive is especially common in speech and often occurs with events that affect the subject personally: get caught, get hurt, get fired, get paid, get invited, and get married. It may suggest accident, difficulty, benefit, or personal involvement, but it does not always express something negative: She got promoted and They got invited are positive.

An agent phrase with by is possible in a get-passive—He got hit by a cyclist—but long or highly formal agent phrases usually sound better with be. Compare the natural official style The proposal was approved by the full committee.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

The service construction can be made passive in more complex sentences: The building is expected to have its windows replaced next year. It can also appear in non-finite forms (forms not marked for tense): Having your passport renewed can take several weeks and She wants to get the heating checked.

Be alert to ambiguity with have + object + past participle. She had her assistant dismissed most naturally means that she caused someone to dismiss the assistant, while She had her phone stolen describes something she suffered. Knowledge of the event and whether it is normally intentional resolves the meaning.

Get-passives sometimes suggest that the subject contributed to the result, especially with people: He got arrested again may invite attention to his behavior. This implication comes from context, not from a fixed grammatical rule. Avoid assuming blame: A pedestrian got injured does not itself say that the pedestrian was responsible.

English also has fixed expressions that look like get-passives but function mainly as changes of state: get dressed, get engaged, get lost, and get used to. Ask whether the phrase reports an action done by an outside agent, a transition into a state, or both. The boundary is sometimes gradual, which is why context matters more than forcing every example into one label.

Finally, two-object passives vary in naturalness. She was asked a question is very common, while A question was asked of her is more formal than A question was asked to her and is often preferred in careful English. Learn frequent combinations as complete patterns rather than assuming that every verb behaves like give.

Practice Tips

1. Take five active two-object sentences and create both possible passives. Then decide which version sounds more natural in a conversation about the recipient and which suits a text about the thing.
2. When arranging a real service, make three versions in different tenses: I get my eyes tested every year; I had them tested last month; I'll have them tested again next year.
3. While listening to informal English, collect examples of get + past participle. Label each one event passive (got robbed), arranged service (got the sink fixed), or change of state (got tired).

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Passive Voice — review the basic be + past participle pattern, tense formation, and agent phrases.
• Next steps: Complex Passive Structures — continue with reporting passives, infinitive patterns, and more formal passive constructions.