Is “to be” passive voice?
"To be" + a past participle is an infinitive passive: "The form needs to be signed," "There is nothing to be done." "To be" + an adjective or noun is active: "She wants to be a judge."
Infinitive passives hide behind verbs like need, have, want, expect, appear and seem: “The roof has to be replaced,” “The report is expected to be released Friday.” Each can usually be made active by naming the doer: “We have to replace the roof.”
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.
Passive
The form needs to be signed by both parties."needs to be signed" with the agent named by "by": a true passive. Active rewrite: Both parties must sign the form.
Active
She wants to be a judge.No “be + past participle” construction here, so the sentence is active.
Active
Both parties need to sign the form.No “be + past participle” construction here, so the sentence is active.
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 "to be" + -ed always passive?
- When the -ed word is a true participle, yes. "To be interested" or "to be tired" describe states and are not passives.