Is “am” passive voice?
"Am" + a past participle is passive ("I am paid monthly"), but most "am" sentences are active: "I am a nurse," "I am working," "I am tired." Many -ed words after "am" are adjectives describing a state, not passives.
First-person passives are uncommon because people naturally describe their own actions actively. When “am” + participle does appear, it is usually a routine or status: “I am paid on the fifteenth,” “I am required to report this.” Emotive participles (“I am interested,” “I am worried”) are adjectives and should not be “fixed.”
Three sentences, checked
Each example below was run through our engine (v1.0.0). Amber marks the passive construction; a dotted underline marks a “be + participle” that is an adjective, not a passive.
Related forms
- Is “was” passive?
- Is “is” passive?
- Is “has been” passive?
- Is “have been” passive?
- Is “had been” passive?
- Is “will be” passive?
- Is “can be” passive?
- Is “could be” passive?
See the full list of passive voice verbs and passive voice in all twelve tenses.
Questions people ask
- Is "I am interested" passive voice?
- No. "Interested" there is an adjective describing a state. The test: "very interested" works, so it is an adjective.