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I have a pen.

How to make its "passive voice"? Actually, I was looking for this sentence on different sites, but I got an answer like

A pen is had by me.

When I got this answer I was shocked. I thought how it can be like this. It really confused me, and I got these remarks:

"I have a pen." is transitive.

"A pen is had [by me.]" is passive.
If "have" were not transitive, we couldn't make the passive transformation.

I have never ever read this passive sentence in my books. So, you are all respectfully requested to spell it out.

Thanks in advance.

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    It is technically grammatically correct to say A pen is had by me, it's just not something a native speaker would ever say. It would be slightly more idiomatic to say something like "A pen is owned" or "A pen is being held".
    – Era
    Commented Jan 25, 2016 at 15:52
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    Era is right: the sentence "a pen is had by me" is grammatically correct, but we very rarely use to have in a passive way. The only place you might normally see it is in the idiom "A good time was had by all", meaning "Everybody had a good time."
    – stangdon
    Commented Jan 25, 2016 at 16:00
  • @stangdon: Or indeed, as Bette Davis reputedly said of a "would-be competitor" actress: She’s the original good time that was had by all
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jan 25, 2016 at 17:06

3 Answers 3

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We normally use the passive with verbs that express the idea of agency: something done to {someone or something} by {someone or something else}.

Have, in the sense of "to be in possession of", although transitive, does not involve a doing-to, and for that reason it does not lend itself to passive expression.

On the other hand:

He bought the book

can become

The book was bought by him.

He took the book. The book was taken by him.

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Of course the way how we change active to passive voice must clearly tell what a subject does with an action verb in active to what/whom the action/object is done(for/to). 'Have' is transitive when it shows action of subject like in (I have a cup of tea.) But it becomes non changing transitive even answered for 'What?', means possessive verb but not action verb in (I have a pen.) Only the action verbs in affirmative sentences with an object(#) can make passive sentences as I know. For that 'I have a pen' does not have its passive form in common even with grammar. If Not, then 'I go to school.' into School is gone by me would be correct too grammatically.

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Technically , "have" in the context means "to possess / to own". Hence, it would sound appropriate to make the passive voice as "A pen is possessed by me" or "A pen is owned by me". We can leave the words "possessed / owned by me" to make the sentences more suitable. However, from the grammatical point of view, "A pen is had by me" is correct..

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