Passive Voice: Future Simple

In a normal sentence, the subject does the action. This is the active voice. For example, The chef will cook the meal. Here, the chef is the star. In the passive voice, we flip the script. The meal becomes the star. We say, The meal will be cooked. Now, the focus is on the delicious food. Think of it like a camera angle change in a movie. You are zooming in on the object. The person doing the action becomes secondary or disappears. This is perfect for when the 'doer' is unknown. It is also great when the 'doer' is just not important.

1. 1Building this is easier than assembling Swedish furniture. Just follow these four simple steps:
2. 2Start with the object of the active sentence. This is your new subject.
3. 3Add the magic words will be. This never changes, regardless of the subject.
4. 4Use the past participle of the main verb. This is often called the V3 form.
5. 5Add by [person] only if you really need to mention them.
6. 6For a negative sentence, just add not. It becomes will not be or the contraction won't be. To ask a question, move will to the front. For example: Will the report be finished? It is a consistent pattern you can rely on. Even if the subject is plural, will be stays the same. No tricky conjugations here!

Use this when the action is more important than the person. Imagine a job interview scenario. You might hear, You will be contacted next week. The company is the one calling, but the 'contacting' is the key info. Use it for formal announcements or rules. Smoking will not be permitted on the flight. It sounds more official and less like a personal attack. Use it when the 'doer' is obvious. In a restaurant, Your wine will be served shortly. We know the waiter does it. We don't need to say it. It also helps when you want to be vague. If a mistake happens, you might say, The error will be corrected. It sounds much better than blaming a specific coworker!

Do not use it for every sentence. It can make your writing feel heavy or 'robotic'. If you are telling a fun story to a friend, stay active. I will buy the tickets is better than The tickets will be bought by me. The second one sounds like a legal document. Avoid it when the 'doer' is the most interesting part. If a famous singer is performing, say Beyoncé will sing. Don't say A song will be sung by Beyoncé. That is just boring. Also, avoid it with 'intransitive' verbs. These are verbs like happen, arrive, or die. You cannot say The accident will be happened. That just sounds like a glitch in the matrix.

Many people forget the be. They say, The car will fixed. This sounds like the car is going to do the fixing! Always remember the be. Another mistake is using the wrong verb form. People often use the base form instead of the past participle. The house will be build is wrong. It must be The house will be built. Watch out for those irregular verbs. They like to trip you up. Finally, don't over-use by. If everyone knows who did it, leave it out. The trash will be collected by the trash man is redundant. Just say The trash will be collected. It is cleaner and faster.

Compare this to the present simple passive. The mail is delivered happens every day. The mail will be delivered happens in the future. It is a simple time shift. Also, look at going to. You can say The house is going to be painted. This is very similar to will be painted. Use will for quick decisions or formal promises. Use going to for plans already made. Think of will as a firm handshake and going to as a calendar entry. Both are useful, but will is more common in professional writing.