Kenya is a country where extraordinary things happen — two million animals cross a river in search of grass, a mobile-money revolution transforms an entire economy, a runner shatters a barrier once thought impossible. When we talk about events like these in English, the passive voice is often the most natural and precise tool available. Let’s explore this essential B2 structure using real, verified facts from Kenya.
What is the passive voice?
In an active sentence, the subject does the action: Kenyan runners have broken dozens of world records. In a passive sentence, the subject receives the action: Dozens of world records have been broken by Kenyan runners.
Same information, different emphasis. The passive puts the spotlight on the thing that happened — the record — rather than on who did it.
Passive formula: subject + be (in the correct tense) + past participle [+ by + agent — optional]
The by + agent phrase is optional. Leave it out when the agent is unknown, unimportant, or obvious from context. Include it only when the agent adds genuinely useful information.
Formation across tenses
| Tense | Active example | Passive form |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | runs the reserve | is / are + past participle |
| Present continuous | is building | is / are being + past participle |
| Past simple | established | was / were + past participle |
| Past continuous | was filming | was / were being + past participle |
| Present perfect | has launched | has / have been + past participle |
| Past perfect | had discovered | had been + past participle |
| Future: will | will protect | will be + past participle |
| Modal | can see | can be + past participle |
The pattern is always the same: find the correct tense of be, then add the past participle. The past participle never changes — it is always the third form of the verb (built, seen, established, launched).
When to use the passive: four clear signals
- Unknown agent: we do not know who did it — “A rare cheetah was spotted near the camp last night.”
- Unimportant agent: who did it adds no useful information — “M-Pesa was launched in 2007.”
- Obvious agent: so clear it goes without saying — “Three poachers were arrested near the Maasai Mara.” (Obviously by rangers or police.)
- Formal writing: news, scientific reports, official documents — “The reserve has been declared a protected area.”
Kenya in focus — five passive stories
Each story below uses a different tense of the passive. Read them carefully and notice how the passive keeps the focus on the event, not on who caused it.
1. The Great Migration
Every year, approximately two million wildebeest and 200,000 zebras are driven northward from Tanzania’s Serengeti into Kenya’s Maasai Mara by instinct and the search for fresh grassland. The Maasai Mara National Reserve was established as a wildlife sanctuary in 1961 and covers 1,510 square kilometres. During the river crossings, thousands of animals are taken by Nile crocodiles waiting in the Mara River — a spectacle that has been filmed by wildlife documentaries from every major broadcaster on the planet. New visitor facilities are being built in the Mara Triangle to manage the growing number of tourists.
2. M-Pesa: a mobile revolution
In 2007, a mobile-money service called M-Pesa was launched by Safaricom in Kenya, allowing money to be sent via simple SMS messages. The project had been funded by a partnership between Safaricom and the UK’s Department for International Development before it went live. The uptake was not predicted to be so dramatic: by 2013, 43% of Kenya’s entire GDP was being processed through M-Pesa. Today the service is used by over 21 million customers and is regarded by financial analysts as the world’s most successful mobile-money platform.
3. Eliud Kipchoge
Eliud Kipchoge was born in Kapsisiywa, in Kenya’s Rift Valley, in 1984, and was coached from an early age by Patrick Sang. He eventually became one of the greatest marathon runners in history. In October 2019, the two-hour barrier for the marathon was broken by Kipchoge in Vienna, where he clocked 1:59:40 — a time that had never been achieved in competitive running before. He has been awarded two Olympic gold medals, at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, and is known around the world by the nickname “The Philosopher.”
4. Silicon Savannah
Nairobi is known as “Silicon Savannah” — a nickname that was coined to reflect the city’s thriving technology ecosystem. More than 200 tech companies have been established there, and major innovation hubs such as iHub have been set up to support local entrepreneurs. Nairobi is now considered one of Africa’s leading centres of digital innovation.
5. Mount Kenya
At 5,199 metres, Mount Kenya is recognised as Africa’s second-highest peak. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of its outstanding natural beauty and ecological importance. The mountain is covered in glaciers, bamboo forest and montane moorland; dozens of endemic plant and animal species can be found nowhere else on Earth.
Passive with reporting verbs — very common in formal English and news: It is believed that altitude training gives Kenyan runners an advantage. Nairobi is considered one of Africa’s most innovative cities. M-Pesa is said to have transformed millions of lives. This structure links neatly to the language covered in our B2 reported speech guide.
The “get” passive — in informal spoken English, get replaces be: “He got arrested,” “It got done.” This is natural in conversation but avoid it in formal essays, reports or academic writing — use be + past participle there. A related advanced structure is causative have and get (C1), where you arrange for something to be done for you.
Common mistakes for Spanish speakers
⚠️ These are the ones to watch
1. Missing the auxiliary “be”
Spanish often avoids the passive by using a reflexive se construction (e.g. se estableció en 1961). In English, the passive always requires be in the correct tense — you cannot omit it.
❌ “The reserve established in 1961.”
✅ “The reserve was established in 1961.”
2. “Was born” — not “was borned”
Born is the past participle of bear in this context. It does not take an extra -ed. This is one of the most frequent errors at B1–B2 level.
❌ “Kipchoge was borned in Kenya.”
✅ “Kipchoge was born in Kenya.”
3. Past simple instead of past participle
The passive needs the past participle (third form), not the past simple (second form). With irregular verbs, these are different words — broke ≠ broken, wrote ≠ written.
❌ “The record has been broke. The report was wrote in 2020.”
✅ “The record has been broken. The report was written in 2020.”
4. Dropping “by” when the agent matters
Leave out “by + agent” only when the agent is unknown or unimportant. If the agent is significant, include it — or the sentence loses key meaning.
❌ “M-Pesa was launched and quickly adopted.” (This could mean anyone launched it.)
✅ “M-Pesa was launched by Safaricom and quickly adopted.”
5. Mixing tense of “be” with present perfect
Spanish speakers sometimes write has been when a finished past event needs was, or vice versa. Choose the tense of be the way you would choose the tense in an active sentence.
❌ “The park has been established in 1961.” (1961 = finished time → past simple needed)
✅ “The park was established in 1961.”
✅ “The park has been protected since 1961.” (ongoing to now → present perfect correct)
Example bank — 16 sentences
- The Maasai Mara is visited by over a million tourists every year.
- The Great Migration is considered the greatest wildlife spectacle on Earth.
- M-Pesa was launched in March 2007.
- Forty-three percent of Kenya’s GDP was being processed through M-Pesa by 2013.
- The sub-two-hour marathon barrier was broken by Eliud Kipchoge in Vienna in 2019.
- Kipchoge has been awarded two Olympic gold medals in his career.
- Mount Kenya was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- Over 200 tech startups have been established in Nairobi’s Silicon Savannah.
- The national park had been protected for decades before the poaching crisis began.
- New ranger stations will be built across the Mara Triangle next year.
- Ugali, Kenya’s staple food, is made from maize flour and water.
- Swahili and English are spoken as the country’s two official languages.
- Kipchoge was raised on a farm and was coached by Patrick Sang.
- The iHub innovation centre was set up to support Kenya’s technology community.
- Thousands of wildebeest are taken by crocodiles during the annual Mara River crossings.
- Nairobi has been nicknamed “Silicon Savannah” by the international press.
Quick quiz — 5 questions
Test yourself. Choose or complete the correct passive form.
- The Maasai Mara ________ as a wildlife sanctuary in 1961. (establish — past simple passive)
- “The marathon record has been ________ twice in five years.” Which word fits: break / broke / broken?
- Which sentence is correct? (a) M-Pesa was launched by Safaricom in 2007. (b) M-Pesa launched by Safaricom in 2007.
- Complete with the present continuous passive: “At the moment, a new visitor centre ________ near the Mara River.” (build)
- Which is correct in a formal report? (a) The results got published last month. (b) The results were published last month.
Show answer key ▾
- was established — “In 1961” is a finished time, so we need the past simple passive.
- broken — the past participle, not the past simple “broke”.
- (a) is correct. (b) is missing “was” before “launched” — the auxiliary verb cannot be omitted.
- is being built — present continuous passive for an ongoing action right now.
- (b) is correct for formal writing. “Got published” is informal and should be avoided in reports and essays.
- Masai Mara Travel — Facts about the Maasai Mara National Reserve
- Harvard Business School — How Kenya created the world’s most successful mobile-payments service
- Guinness World Records — Eliud Kipchoge
- Olympics.com — Eliud Kipchoge biography
- UNESCO World Heritage — Mount Kenya
- GeoFactbook — Kenya 2026
Related reading: Causative have and get at B2 (South Korea) — a natural next step from passive voice, covering when someone else performs an action for you.