Passive Voice

Respuesta correcta: A) The classroom was repainted last week.

• A) The classroom was repainted last week.Correct. 'Was' plus the past participle forms the passive in the past simple.
• B) The classroom has repainted last week.Wrong. 'Has repainted' is the present perfect active; the passive would need 'has been repainted'.
• C) The classroom repainted last week.Wrong. 'Repainted' in the simple form is active, because a transitive verb without 'by' is read as active.
• D) The classroom was repainting last week.Wrong. 'Was repainting' is passive only if followed by 'by'; a bare gerund here makes the sentence incomplete.

Respuesta correcta: B) The bridge is built in 1790.

• A) The bridge is building in 1790.Wrong. 'Is building' would need a by-phrase to be passive, and without one it is ungrammatical.
• B) The bridge is built in 1790.Correct. 'Is' plus the past participle 'built' forms the present simple passive, which fits a completed construction.
• C) The bridge built in 1790.Wrong. 'Built' is the past simple active; the passive in the past would be 'was built'.
• D) The bridge builds in 1790.Wrong. 'Builds' is the active form, which would identify a builder and imply someone constructs the bridge.

Respuesta correcta: C) The mural was painted by a local artist.

• A) The mural was painted by a local artist from Cusco.Wrong. The extra information about Cusco is irrelevant to the caption and makes the by-phrase wordy without adding accuracy.
• B) The mural was painted by a local.Wrong. 'A local' is too vague to identify the agent, and it loses the professional description.
• C) The mural was painted by a local artist.Correct. 'By' introduces the agent that performed the action, which is what this caption needs.
• D) The mural was painted of a local artist.Wrong. 'By' introduces an agent, not a location, so 'by of' and 'by a place' are both incorrect.

Respuesta correcta: D) Was the project finished on time?

• A) The project was finished on time?Wrong. This is a statement, and it lacks the inversion that a yes/no question requires.
• B) Is the project finished on time?Wrong. 'Is finished' would place the project in the present, which does not match the reference to the deadline already passed.
• C) Did the project finish on time?Wrong. 'Did finish' is the active form of the question and implies an agent completed the project.
• D) Was the project finished on time?Correct. A passive question is formed by inverting the auxiliary 'was' and keeping the past participle, which is what this sentence does.

Respuesta correcta: A) The results have been published this morning.

• A) The results have been published this morning.Correct. 'Have been' plus the past participle forms the present perfect passive.
• B) The results was published this morning.Wrong. 'Was' is the past simple and does not agree with the plural subject 'results'.
• C) The results have been publish this morning.Wrong. 'Have been publish' lacks the past participle after the auxiliary 'been'.
• D) The results have published this morning.Wrong. 'Have published' is the present perfect active, which would require a subject that publishes.

Respuesta correcta: B) The road is being repaired at the moment.

• A) The road is repairing at the moment.Wrong. 'Is repairing' without a by-phrase is not a passive construction at all.
• B) The road is being repaired at the moment.Correct. 'Is being' plus the past participle is the present continuous passive, and 'road' is singular so 'is' is correct.
• C) The road are being repaired at the moment.Wrong. 'Are' would require a plural subject, and the subject here is the singular noun 'road'.
• D) The road is being repair at the moment.Wrong. 'Is being repair' lacks the past participle after 'being'.

Respuesta correcta: C) The results are still being analysed.

• A) The results still analyse.Wrong. 'Analyse' is the active third person singular and presents the results as the analyser.
• B) The results are still analysing.Wrong. 'Are analysing' without a by-phrase is not a passive, and it would also need an agent to be grammatical.
• C) The results are still being analysed.Correct. The action is in progress and the agent is unstated, so the present continuous passive is the natural form.
• D) The results are still analysed.Wrong. 'Are analysed' is the simple present passive, which loses the sense of an action currently under way.

Respuesta correcta: D) The passive version foregrounds the action and leaves the agent unstated, while the active version identifies who performed it.

• A) The passive version implies that the agent is unknown, whereas the active version implies the action was illegitimate.Wrong. The passive carries no implication of illegitimacy; that judgement would come from the wording, not from the voice.
• B) The active version is less informative because active sentences cannot include time expressions.Wrong. Both forms can carry time expressions; that is not what distinguishes them.
• C) Both sentences convey identical information, since the passive does not remove the agent.Wrong. Passivising does remove or demote the agent, so the two sentences are not informationally identical.
• D) The passive version foregrounds the action and leaves the agent unstated, while the active version identifies who performed it.Correct. This describes the informational contrast accurately: passivising removes the agent from prominence.

Respuesta correcta: A) The letters were being signed while I was waiting.

• A) The letters were being signed while I was waiting.Correct. 'Were being' plus the past participle is the past continuous passive, which matches the ongoing signing.
• B) The letters are being signed while I was waiting.Wrong. 'Are being' is the present continuous passive and clashes with the past 'was waiting' in the main clause.
• C) The letters were signed while I am waiting.Wrong. 'Were signed' would place the signing at a single past moment, and 'am waiting' does not match the past frame.
• D) The letters were being sign while I was waiting.Wrong. 'Were being sign' lacks the past participle after 'being'.

Respuesta correcta: B) The new wing will be inaugurated in May.

• A) The new wing will be inaugurate in May.Wrong. 'Will be inaugurate' lacks the past participle after 'be'.
• B) The new wing will be inaugurated in May.Correct. 'Will be' plus the past participle is the standard way to express a future passive without naming the agent.
• C) The new wing are inaugurated in May.Wrong. 'Are' does not agree with the singular subject 'wing'.
• D) The new wing will inaugurate in May.Wrong. 'Will inaugurate' is active and assigns the action to the wing, which cannot perform it.

Respuesta correcta: C) The bridge had been under repair for a month before the rains began.

• A) The bridge had been repairing for a month before the rains began.Wrong. 'Had been repairing' would require a by-phrase to be passive, so it is not a passive form here.
• B) The bridge had been under repair for a month before the rains begin.Wrong. 'The rains begin' is present simple and does not match the past time frame.
• C) The bridge had been under repair for a month before the rains began.Correct. 'Had been' plus the participle phrase marks a passive process that was still continuing at that past point.
• D) The bridge has been under repair for a month before the rains began.Wrong. 'Has been' is the present perfect, which cannot precede the past simple 'began'.

Respuesta correcta: D) The agent is genuinely unknown or unimportant, so the sentence focuses on what happened rather than who did it.

• A) The passive is used when the subject of the active sentence is not a person.Wrong. Passives regularly name people as agents, as in 'the poem was written by a student'.
• B) The passive is used to make the sentence shorter by removing the participle.Wrong. The passive is not chosen for length and does not remove the participle, which is essential to the form.
• C) The passive is always required when the verb is a transitive one.Wrong. Passive and active are both available for transitive verbs, so the transitivity of the verb is not a reason.
• D) The agent is genuinely unknown or unimportant, so the sentence focuses on what happened rather than who did it.Correct. This is the standard justification: the agent is unknown or not worth naming, so the focus stays on the event.

Respuesta correcta: A) If the deadline were extended, the report could be finished.

• A) If the deadline were extended, the report could be finished.Correct. 'Were extended' is the second conditional passive and 'could be finished' is the modal passive, so both clauses are grammatically passive.
• B) If the deadline would be extended, the report could be finished.Wrong. 'Would be extended' in an if-clause is not the standard second conditional form.
• C) If the deadline was extended, the report could finished.Wrong. 'Could finished' omits the auxiliary 'be' that the modal passive requires.
• D) If the deadline were extend, the report could be finished.Wrong. 'Were extend' lacks the past participle after the auxiliary in the passive clause.

Respuesta correcta: B) The council approved a plan that was drawn up by two architects.

• A) The council approved a plan that was draw up by two architects.Wrong. 'Was draw up' lacks the past participle after the auxiliary.
• B) The council approved a plan that was drawn up by two architects.Correct. The main clause is active and the relative clause is passive with 'was' plus the past participle, which is a standard combination.
• C) The council approves a plan that was drawn up by two architects.Wrong. 'Approves' is present simple and conflicts with the past tense of the passive clause.
• D) The council approved a plan that drew up by two architects.Wrong. 'That drew up by' is not a passive clause and leaves the relative clause without a verb.

Respuesta correcta: C) The letters must have been stolen from the office.

• A) The letters must been stolen from the office.Wrong. 'Must been' omits the auxiliary 'have' that the perfect requires.
• B) The letters must have stole from the office.Wrong. 'Must have stole' needs the past participle 'stolen' after the auxiliary 'have'.
• C) The letters must have been stolen from the office.Correct. 'Must have been' plus participle is a modal perfect passive expressing a deduction about a past event.
• D) The letters must be stolen from the office last night.Wrong. 'Must be stolen' is a present deduction and cannot be combined with 'last night'.

Respuesta correcta: D) The news spread quickly through the town.

• A) The news is spread quickly through the town.Wrong. 'Is spread' attempts a passive from an intransitive verb and is not acceptable.
• B) The news spreaded quickly through the town.Wrong. 'Spread' is already irregular or unchanged in this sense, so adding -ed is wrong.
• C) The news was spread quickly through the town.Wrong. 'Was spread' treats the intransitive verb as if it were transitive and is not acceptable.
• D) The news spread quickly through the town.Correct. 'Spread' is an intransitive verb here and cannot take a passive, so the active form is the only option.

Respuesta correcta: A) The agent is unspecified, and context may or may not make it recoverable.

• A) The agent is unspecified, and context may or may not make it recoverable.Correct. This correctly describes the ambiguity of an agentless passive, which is exactly why such sentences are avoided in precise writing.
• B) The agent is revealed by the use of the past participle.Wrong. The participle marks the passive, not the identity of the agent.
• C) The agent cannot be a person under any circumstances.Wrong. People are perfectly normal agents of breaking windows, so the restriction claimed here is false.
• D) The agent is definitely the person reading the sentence.Wrong. The reader supplies no agent, and the sentence works for a child, a pet or a storm.

Respuesta correcta: B) The site was cleared, the fences were being repaired, and the keys have been returned.

• A) The site is cleared, the fences were being repair, and the keys have been return.Wrong. 'Is cleared' changes the time frame and 'being repair' and 'been return' both lack the participle.
• B) The site was cleared, the fences were being repaired, and the keys have been returned.Correct. All three clauses are correctly passivised: was cleared, were being repaired and have been returned.
• C) The site had cleared, the fences were being repaired, and the keys have been returned.Wrong. 'Had cleared' is not a passive form, since the passive requires be plus the participle.
• D) The site cleared, the fences were repaired, and the keys returned.Wrong. Without an auxiliary, 'cleared', 'repaired' and 'returned' all read as active verbs.

Respuesta correcta: C) The bags were packed and the tickets were printed.

• A) The bags is packed and the tickets are print.Wrong. 'Is' does not agree with 'bags' and 'are print' lacks the past participle.
• B) The bags was packed and the tickets was printed.Wrong. 'Was' is singular and does not agree with the plural subject 'bags' in either clause.
• C) The bags were packed and the tickets were printed.Correct. Both subjects are plural, so each passive clause correctly takes 'were' plus the past participle.
• D) The bags was packed and the tickets are printed.Wrong. 'Was packed' disagrees with 'bags' and the two clauses use inconsistent auxiliaries.

Respuesta correcta: D) The song was written by a student from Lima.

• A) The song is written by a student from Lima.Wrong. 'Is written' describes a recurring present situation and changes the time frame.
• B) The song was wrote by a student from Lima.Wrong. 'Was wrote' lacks the past participle after the auxiliary.
• C) The song was written by a piano.Wrong. Naming a piano as the agent produces a comic or impossible reading, since an instrument cannot compose.
• D) The song was written by a student from Lima.Correct. Naming the writer as a person supports the reading that someone composed the song.