Difference Between Active and Passive Voice Practice — Exercise 9 (Tenses, Modals, Infinitive, Participle, & Gerund Included) Improve English with Word Power
This practice set trains you to convert active sentences into correct passive forms across a wide range of tenses and modals (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect-continuous, modals + perfect, infinitive, participle, gerund, passive with causatives, and more). Each item gives an active sentence followed by four passive options — only one is correct. Every question includes the main verb (POS & short word meaning), key POS items, and a clear explanation for why the correct answer is right and why each distractor is wrong. No verbs or questions repeat within this set — designed for thorough practice and strong English coverage of “passive voice,” “active to passive,” and tense-conversion queries.
English Grammar Definition: Passive Voice (Be + verb 3rd form)
- Form: be + verb 3rd form.
- Definition: Passive voice = Object of the active + appropriate form of be + past participle (+ by + agent) (agent optional).
- When to use: when the action or object is more important than the actor, or actor unknown/irrelevant.
- Form basics:
- Simple present passive: is/are + V3
- Simple past passive: was/were + V3
- Present perfect passive: has/have been + V3
- Future passive: will be + V3 or will have been + V3 (future perfect passive)
- Modal passive: modal + be + V3 or modal + have been + V3 (modal perfect passive)
- Passive of continuous forms: is/are being + V3; was/were being + V3; will be being + V3 (rare)
- Conversion tip: Identify the object of the active sentence — that becomes the subject of the passive. Match tense and auxiliary forms; preserve modals (can/will/must/should) using be or have been as needed.
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Quiz Instructions
- Read each question and choose the best answer out of four given options.
- On top, header section of the quiz, you will see the “title of the quiz,’ ‘spending-time,’ ‘value of question in points,’ and ‘number of questions.”
- Below on footer, you will see Full Screen mode. As the name suggests, it covers the whole screen. It will save a lot of your time attempting the quiz.
- You can zoom the images given in the questions.
- After submitting the quiz, you can see your score and compare with other users.
- The Full Leaderboard link will take you to a page, where you can see all users attempts.
- Below the quiz box, there are explanation of each options. You can study and try again.
- Best of Luck!
Quiz Question, Answer and Explanation
Note: Do remember in the quiz box above, the questions and options will shuffle, so they won’t have the same sequence like 1, 2, 3, or A, B, C as below.
1. Active: The museum conservator is restoring the painting this week.
A) The painting is being restored this week by the museum conservator.
B) The painting is restored this week by the museum conservator.
C) The painting will be restored this week by the museum conservator.
D) The painting has been restored this week by the museum conservator.
Verb: restore — to repair and bring back to good condition.
Key POS: is restoring (present continuous), this week (time).
A) Correct: Plain explanation: Present continuous passive: is being + V3.
B) Wrong: uses present simple.
C) Wrong: future.
D) Wrong: present perfect (different implication).
2. Active: The analyst can extract the relevant metrics from the report.
A) The relevant metrics can be extracted from the report by the analyst.
B) The relevant metrics can extract from the report by the analyst.
C) The relevant metrics can have been extracted from the report by the analyst.
D) The relevant metrics could be extracted from the report by the analyst.
Verb: extract — to take out important parts.
Key POS: can (modal), extract (verb), relevant metrics (object).
A) Correct: Plain explanation: Modal passive uses can + be + V3 → can be extracted.
B) Wrong: misses be.
C) Wrong: mixes modals and perfect oddly.
D) Wrong: changes modal meaning (could is different possibility).
3. Active: The department head must approve the travel request tonight.
A) The travel request must be approved tonight by the department head.
B) The travel request must approve tonight by the department head.
C) The travel request must have been approved tonight by the department head.
D) The travel request must be approving tonight by the department head.
Verb: approve — to accept officially.
Key POS: must (modal), approve (verb), tonight (time).
A) Correct: Plain explanation: Modal passive: must + be + V3 → must be approved.
B) Wrong: missing be.
C) Wrong: changes meaning (requires it to already have happened).
D) Wrong: wrong progressive.
4. Active: The vendor had provided the spare parts earlier that week.
A) The spare parts had been provided earlier that week by the vendor.
B) The spare parts were provided earlier that week by the vendor.
C) The spare parts have been provided earlier that week by the vendor.
D) The spare parts had provided earlier that week by the vendor.
Verb: provide — to supply.
Key POS: had provided (past perfect), spare parts (object).
A) Correct: Plain explanation: Past perfect passive uses had been + V3.
B) Wrong: simple past.
C) Wrong: present perfect (wrong).
D) Wrong: misses been.
5. Active: The architect will review the plans again this afternoon.
A) The plans will be reviewed again this afternoon by the architect.
B) The plans will review again this afternoon by the architect.
C) The plans will have reviewed again this afternoon by the architect.
D) The plans will be reviewing again this afternoon by the architect.
Verb: review — to look over.
Key POS: will review (future), plans (object), this afternoon (time).
A) Correct: Plain explanation: Future passive uses will be + V3.
B) Wrong: misses be.
C) Wrong: mis-forms future perfect.
D) Wrong: wrong progressive.
6. Active: The lab technician has sterilized the instruments already.
A) The instruments have already been sterilized by the lab technician.
B) The instruments have already sterilized by the lab technician.
C) The instruments had already been sterilized by the lab technician.
D) The instruments are already sterilized by the lab technician.
Verb: sterilize — to make medically clean.
Key POS: has sterilized (present perfect), already (time adverb).
A) Correct: Plain explanation: Present perfect passive is have/has been + V3 → have already been sterilized.
B) Wrong: misses been.
C) Wrong: past perfect (different).
D) Wrong: present simple (says it is currently clean, different nuance).
7. Active: The planning office might postpone the zoning hearing.
A) The zoning hearing might be postponed by the planning office.
B) The zoning hearing might postpone by the planning office.
C) The zoning hearing might have been postponed by the planning office.
D) The zoning hearing might be postponing by the planning office.
Verb: postpone — to delay.
Key POS: might (modal), postpone (verb), zoning hearing (object).
A) Correct: Plain explanation: Modal passive: might + be + V3 → might be postponed.
B) Wrong: misses be.
C) Wrong: suggests it perhaps already happened (different).
D) Wrong: wrong progressive.
8. Active: The developers were testing a backup yesterday.
A) A backup was being tested yesterday by the developers.
B) A backup was tested yesterday by the developers.
C) A backup has been tested yesterday by the developers.
D) A backup had been tested yesterday by the developers.
Verb: test — to check operation.
Key POS: were testing (past continuous), yesterday (time).
A) Correct: Plain explanation: Past continuous passive is was/were being + V3 → was being tested.
B) Wrong: is simple past (different nuance: completed action vs ongoing).
C) Wrong: present perfect (wrong).
D) Wrong: past perfect (different).
9. Active: The assistant will compile a summary for us by Friday.
A) A summary will be compiled for us by Friday by the assistant.
B) A summary will compile for us by Friday by the assistant.
C) A summary will have compiled for us by Friday by the assistant.
D) A summary will be compiling for us by Friday by the assistant.
Verb: compile — to collect and make together.
Key POS: will compile (future), summary (object), by Friday (time).
A) Correct: Plain explanation: Future passive uses will be + V3 → will be compiled.
B) Wrong: misses be.
C) Wrong: mis-forms future perfect.
D) Wrong: wrong progressive.
10. Active: The scientist has observed unusual behavior in the samples.
A) Unusual behavior has been observed in the samples by the scientist.
B) Unusual behavior has observed in the samples by the scientist.
C) Unusual behavior had been observed in the samples by the scientist.
D) Unusual behavior was observed in the samples by the scientist.
Verb: observe — to notice.
Key POS: has observed (present perfect), unusual behavior (object).
A) Correct: Plain explanation: Present perfect passive: has/have been + V3 → has been observed.
B) Wrong: missing been.
C) Wrong: past perfect (different).
D) Wrong: simple past (less precise about recency).