“The letter has been checked” and “The letter is being checked” are both grammatical, but they report different stages of an action. If you swap “been” and “being” without considering that difference, you can change what the reader understands.
The common-mistakes chapter in Jobin Thomas’s Formal Writing with Passive Grammar: OET for Doctors explains missing auxiliaries, incorrect participles and confusion between “been” and “being.” This guide turns those points into a short editing routine with original examples.
Start with the action’s status
Ask whether the action is complete, in progress, or expected later. In a fictional administrative example, “The document is being checked” presents the checking as ongoing. “The document has been checked” presents the check as completed with relevance now.
The second sentence does not automatically mean every later action is complete. A document can have been checked while a decision is still pending. Keep the status of each action separate when interpreting or writing the sentence.
Recognise the two verb patterns
A present continuous passive commonly uses am/is/are + being + past participle: “The forms are being scanned.” A present perfect passive uses has/have + been + past participle: “The forms have been scanned.”
The first auxiliary agrees with the subject: “The form is being scanned” and “The forms are being scanned.” The participle stays “scanned.” Understanding the whole pattern is more useful than memorising “been” and “being” as isolated words.
Original sentence comparison
In progress now: “The appointment list is being updated.”
Update completed: “The appointment list has been updated.”
Completed at a specified past time: “The appointment list was updated yesterday.”
Check: Which version matches the actual information you have?
Repair the participle as well as the auxiliary
“The reply has been wrote” contains “been,” but the main verb is still wrong. The participle is “written.” Compare “They wrote the reply” with “The reply was written.” Other useful pairs include sent/sent, took/taken and gave/given.
Regular participles often end in “-ed,” but that is not a rule for every verb. Keep a short record of irregular forms you repeatedly confuse, using complete sentences so the grammar remains connected to meaning.
Correct the forms and explain the meaning
1. The letters have being sent.
2. The draft is been reviewed at the moment.
3. The reply was wrote yesterday.
Answers: 1 “The letters have been sent.” 2 “The draft is being reviewed at the moment.” 3 “The reply was written yesterday.” The first reports completed sending, the second an ongoing review, and the third a past writing event.
Do not choose a tense from form alone
A fragment such as “report checked” does not always supply enough context to choose between “was checked” and “has been checked.” Look for the date, surrounding events and purpose of the sentence. If the notes are genuinely unclear, do not invent a timeline.
Likewise, changing an active sentence into a passive one should preserve the time and meaning. “The receptionist is checking the list” becomes “The list is being checked by the receptionist,” not “The list has been checked.”
Check whether passive voice helps this sentence
A passive form can put the document or action first. An active sentence can make responsibility clearer: “The coordinator will contact the patient.” Choose the structure that communicates the needed information, rather than turning every sentence into a passive construction.
Underline the complete verb group. Check the action’s status, the first auxiliary and the participle. Finally, ask whether the sentence still says exactly what the notes support.
Explore OET Grammar — Course 9 for the course linked to this doctors’ passive-voice material. For individual writing feedback, choose your preferred dates and times for online one-to-one OET tuition around duty shifts and busy life, with availability confirmed by your tutor.
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Source: OET GRA DOC 02 PASSIVE.epub, Jobins Training. Examples labelled original or illustrative were written for this article. Independent exam preparation; no affiliation with or endorsement by the examining body. Practice does not predict an official score.