Grammar · Free lesson
The rooms are cleaned: present simple passive
A guest asks about housekeeping. You want to explain the room-cleaning routine. The rooms matter more in this answer than the names of the people who clean them.
Professor Scott MendozaMeaning in this lesson
present simple passive
A way to describe a present fact or routine with the receiver of the action as the subject.
Example
“The towels are washed every day.”
Someone washes the towels every day. The sentence focuses on the towels.
The short answer
Use is or are plus a past participle when a thing receives a routine action: “The rooms are cleaned every morning.” The rooms receive the cleaning; they do not do it. With I, the present form is am: “I am paid monthly.”
Choose your focus, then give it the right verb form.
“The staff clean the rooms” starts with the people doing the action. “The rooms are cleaned” starts with the things receiving it. Use are for plural rooms and is for one room. Cleaned is a past participle here; are keeps the sentence in the present.
The same routine, with a different focus.
The staff clean the rooms every morning.
The rooms are cleaned every morning.
The passive does not mean the action happened in the past. Are cleaned describes the current routine; were cleaned would place it in the past.
Build the sentence around the rooms
Start with the receiver
The rooms
Add the complete passive verb
The rooms are cleaned.
Add the routine time
The rooms are cleaned every morning.
Try it now
Who receives the action?
Read all answers and explanations
Hotel staff wash the towels daily. Choose the sentence that starts with the towels and keeps that meaning.
The towels are washed every day.Are washed shows that the towels receive the washing. The other options do not form the passive needed to describe this routine.
Describe the cleaning action in the current routine: “Each room ___ every morning.”
is cleanedEach room is singular, so use is cleaned. Is clean can describe the room’s condition, but it does not express the cleaning action requested here.
Choose the present passive statement about a weekly email. The past participle of send is sent.
The update is sent every Friday.Use is plus the past participle sent. Is send uses the wrong verb form; sent alone leaves out the present passive form of be.
Put it into practice
Repair the housekeeping notice.
Keep the rooms as the subject and describe the cleaning action as a daily routine.
The rooms cleaned every morning.
See a model answer
The rooms are cleaned every morning.
The correction keeps the intended focus and makes the current cleaning routine clear.
A little more clarity
Common questions
A few useful details before you move on.
Do I have to add “by the staff”?
No. Leave out the doer when the message is about the routine and the doer is obvious or unimportant. Add a by phrase when identifying the doer helps the reader.
The rooms are cleaned by our housekeeping team.
Does every past participle end in -ed?
No. Clean becomes cleaned, but send becomes sent and make becomes made. The passive needs the past participle, not simply an -ed ending added to any verb.
The signs are made here.
Take it into your day
For a present routine, use receiver + am/is/are + past participle. Do not leave out be.
Your next step · Available on Udemy
Connect grammar choices to what you want to say.
This is one practical use of the passive. The English Grammar and English Speaking course includes a Passive Voice vs. Active Voice section with Learn it, Review it, Use it and Practice it lessons, helping you connect the structure to a clear message.
Explore the course English Master Course: English Grammar and English Speaking