Is “will be” passive voice?
"Will be" + a past participle is the simple future passive: "The policy will be issued next week." "Will be" + an adjective, a noun or an -ing verb is active: "It will be cold," "She will be a partner," "We will be meeting at noon."
Future passives are everywhere in customer communication (“Your refund will be processed within five days”) because the writer either does not want to commit a named person or finds the receiver more important than the actor.
They are not wrong. They are evasive when a promise needs an owner. “Your refund will be processed” is fine on a receipt; in a complaint response, “I will process your refund today” does more work.
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 “can be” passive?
- Is “could be” passive?
- Is “must be” passive?
See the full list of passive voice verbs and passive voice in all twelve tenses.
Questions people ask
- Is "will be" + -ing passive?
- No. "Will be meeting" is the future progressive, an active form.
- How do I make a "will be" sentence active?
- Name the doer and use "will" + the base verb: "The policy will be issued by the carrier" becomes "The carrier will issue the policy."