What is the most useful grammatical construction you can use in your Cambridge English exam? Conditionals? Relative clauses? Cleft sentences? Perhaps reported speech?
All of these structures are important, particularly if you’re preparing for C1 Advanced (CAE) or C2 Proficiency (CPE). However, in my opinion, there’s one grammatical construction that is more useful than all the others: the passive voice.
Why? Because you can use it in almost every part of the Cambridge English exams. It appears frequently in Reading and Use of English, it’s particularly useful in formal writing, and you can even use it naturally in the Speaking paper.
Having helped thousands of students prepare for Cambridge English exams over more than 23 years, I’ve seen just how useful this structure can be.
And the good news is that it’s not particularly difficult to learn. The real challenge is knowing when and how to use it appropriately.
Let’s look at why the passive voice is so important and how you can use it to improve your performance in your Cambridge English exam.
1. The passive voice in Reading and Use of English
One of the reasons I consider the passive voice so useful is that it appears regularly in the Reading and Use of English paper, particularly in Part 4: Key Word Transformations.
If you’re not familiar with this task, you’re given a sentence, a key word and a second sentence with a gap. You have to complete the second sentence using the key word without changing it, ensuring that the meaning remains as similar as possible to the original.
Let’s look at an example from a C1 Advanced sample test.
Original sentence:
They say a visitor to the National Gallery damaged an eighteenth-century painting.
Key word: ALLEGED
Second sentence:
A visitor to the National Gallery __________ an eighteenth-century painting.
The answer is:
A visitor to the National Gallery is alleged to have damaged an eighteenth-century painting.
Notice the grammatical construction: is alleged to have damaged.
This is a passive reporting structure. We use it when reporting what people generally say, believe or claim about something without identifying a specific person making the statement.
Here’s another example, this time from a C2 Proficiency sample test.
Original sentence:
The driver instructed passengers to move down the bus.
Key word: WAY
Second sentence:
Passengers __________ down the bus by the driver.
The answer is:
Passengers were instructed to make their way down the bus by the driver.
Here, the passive voice is relatively straightforward. The subject of the original sentence (the driver) becomes the agent in the passive construction, while passengers becomes the subject.
The more challenging aspect of this transformation is the fixed expression make your way.
What’s interesting about these two examples is that the C2 question actually uses relatively basic passive grammar, whereas the C1 question requires a more sophisticated structure.
This illustrates an important point: a higher-level exam doesn’t necessarily mean that every grammatical structure being tested is more complicated. Vocabulary, fixed expressions and the ability to recognise how language works in context are equally important.
2. The passive voice in the Writing paper
This is arguably where the passive voice becomes particularly useful.
If you’re writing an essay, report, proposal or formal letter, you’ll often need to adopt a neutral or formal register.
One way to achieve this is by using the passive voice.
Let’s look at some examples from actual Cambridge student writing.
C2 Proficiency example
The following examples come from a C2 Proficiency candidate’s essay. Interestingly, this candidate achieved maximum marks across the assessment criteria.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the essay was perfect or completely free of mistakes. It means that the writing demonstrated the standard required to achieve the highest marks.
Consider this sentence:
It should be noted that the things that irritate people will vary.
This is an excellent example of the passive voice being used appropriately.
Compare it with:
People should note that the things that irritate people will vary.
The second sentence is grammatically correct, but the first is more impersonal and arguably more appropriate for the context.
Here’s another example from the same essay:
It was once considered…
The candidate could have written:
People once considered…
Again, there’s nothing grammatically wrong with the active version. However, the passive construction creates a more neutral, impersonal tone.
These are relatively simple grammatical structures, but they’re very effective.
C1 Advanced example
Let’s look at another example, this time from a C1 Advanced essay.
The candidate wrote:
It has to be said that…
Compare this with:
I have to say that…
Both expressions are grammatically correct, but the passive construction is less personal and can be more appropriate in a formal essay.
Here’s another example:
Rules can be placed differently.
The candidate has used the passive voice correctly here, although there’s a vocabulary problem. We don’t normally say place rules. More appropriate verbs would be set, impose or implement.
For example:
- Rules can be set differently.
- Stricter rules could be imposed.
- New regulations need to be implemented.
The important point is that the candidate has recognised an opportunity to use the passive voice rather than unnecessarily identifying the people responsible for setting or imposing the rules.
An example of how to improve your writing
Now let’s look at a weaker example from a B2 First essay.
The candidate wrote:
I think that my country has problems with pollution to the environment like all other countries.
There are several ways we could improve this sentence, but let’s focus on the use of the passive voice.
One possible alternative would be:
It is believed that this country, like many others, has problems with pollution.
Notice how we’ve changed I think to It is believed.
We’ve also changed my country to this country, making the statement less personal and more general.
Here’s another example from the same student’s essay:
I don’t know what should we do.
Apart from the word order problem, this sentence is rather informal and personal for an academic essay.
One possible improvement would be:
It is not known what should be done.
We’ve used two passive constructions here:
- It is not known.
- What should be done.
However, there’s an even better alternative:
The correct course of action is not clear.
This is a more sophisticated way of expressing the same general idea.
The lesson here is that you shouldn’t simply use the passive voice because you want to demonstrate advanced grammar. You should use it when it helps you communicate your ideas more effectively.
Ultimately, that’s what Cambridge examiners are looking for.
3. The passive voice in the Speaking paper
You might associate the passive voice primarily with formal writing, but it’s also extremely common in everyday spoken English.
In fact, there are several expressions that you can use quite naturally in your Cambridge Speaking exam.
Here are five particularly useful examples.
1. I was born and bred in Madrid.
This is a very common expression meaning that you were born and grew up in a particular place.
Born and bred is a particularly natural way of talking about your hometown.
2. My hometown is known for its architecture.
We use is known for to describe something that a place or person is famous for.
Other possibilities include:
- My hometown is renowned for its beautiful beaches.
- The region is particularly well known for its traditional cuisine.
3. I’ve been told that the Earth is flat.
We use this expression when we want to report information without necessarily identifying who gave us that information.
It’s often unnecessary to mention the person responsible.
4. It’s said that AI will eventually take over the world.
This is another passive reporting structure.
We use expressions such as it’s said that, it’s believed that and it’s thought that to communicate general opinions or beliefs.
5. The photograph looks like it was taken at night.
This isparticularly useful in the collaborative and long-turn parts of the Speaking paper when describing photographs.
Notice the passive construction was taken.
These are all relatively straightforward expressions, but they’re natural, useful and appropriate for a wide range of speaking situations.
4. Why do we use the passive voice?
So far, we’ve looked at several examples of how the passive voice can be used in your Cambridge exam. But it’s also important to understand why we use it.
There are four main reasons.
A. To create a more formal or impersonal register
As we’ve already seen, the passive voice is particularly useful in formal writing because it allows us to present information without making everything about our personal opinions.
For example:
I believe that increased investment is needed.
Compare this with:
It is believed that increased investment is needed.
The second version is more impersonal and presents the idea as a general belief rather than an explicitly personal opinion.
B. To emphasise the action rather than the person performing it
Sometimes, the action itself is much more important than the person or people responsible for carrying it out.
For example:
Alien life has been discovered on Pluto.
The important information here is the discovery itself, not necessarily who made it.
We could add by scientists if we wanted to, but it’s not essential.
C. When the person performing the action is unknown or unimportant
For example:
The cathedral was built in the fifteenth century.
We don’t know who built the cathedral, and in this context, that’s not particularly important.
The focus is on the cathedral and when it was built.
D. To be less direct or less accusatory
The passive voice can also be useful when we don’t want to identify or directly blame the person responsible for something.
For example:
The project wasn’t finished on time.
This sentence doesn’t identify who failed to complete the project.
Perhaps it was Mary, perhaps it was the entire team, or perhaps there were circumstances beyond their control.
By using the passive voice, we can focus on what happened without directly accusing anyone.
5. How to form the passive voice
Finally, let’s have a quick look at how to construct a passive sentence.
Consider this sentence in the active voice:
Experts believe the Earth is spherical.
We have the familiar subject-verb-object structure:
- Subject: Experts
- Verb: Believe
- Object: The Earth
To change this into the passive voice, we move the object to the beginning of the sentence.
The result is:
The Earth is believed to be spherical.
There are two important things to remember when forming the passive voice:
- The verb to be must be used in the appropriate tense.
- The main verb must be in the past participle form.
For example:
| Active | Passive |
|---|---|
| They build houses. | Houses are built. |
| They built the house. | The house was built. |
| They are repairing the road. | The road is being repaired. |
| They have completed the project. | The project has been completed. |
| They will announce the results. | The results will be announced. |
Notice that the tense of the original sentence is maintained through the appropriate form of to be.
We can also include the person or thing responsible for the action using by:
The novel was written by George Orwell.
However, it’s important to remember that the agent isn’t always necessary. In many cases, we omit it because it’s unknown, obvious or simply unimportant.
Final thoughts: Make the passive voice your priority
There are plenty of grammatical structures you need to study if you’re preparing for Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency.
Conditionals, relative clauses, cleft sentences, inversion and reported speech are all important.
However, if I had to choose one grammatical construction that offers the greatest versatility across the different parts of the exam, it would undoubtedly be the passive voice.
You can use it in Reading and Use of English, particularly in Key Word Transformations. It’s extremely useful in formal writing, where you need to demonstrate an appropriate register, and it also appears naturally in everyday spoken English.
But remember one important thing: using advanced grammar isn’t about making every sentence as complicated as possible. It’s about choosing the most appropriate grammatical structure for the context.
If you can use the passive voice accurately and naturally, you’ll have a very useful tool at your disposal, not just for your Cambridge English exam, but for your English in general.
Check out my Essential Grammar Course for more help with the most useful asvanced structures and concepts!