Exercise 8: Practice difference between Active to Passive across tense, modals, gerund, infinitive, participle & complete grammar set. Exam-style question with word meaning.
This practice set trains you to make correct passive forms sentences across a wide range of tenses and modals (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect-continuous, modals + perfect, infinitive, participle, gerund, passive with causatives, and more). Each question gives an active sentence followed by blanks for the passive voice — your job is to select & drop single-word option containers into the blanks. 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 other options and distractors are wrong. No verbs or questions repeat within the full set — designed for thorough practice and strong English Grammar and Spoken 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 given options. There is one word option to fill the blanks and you can use one option more than once.
- 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: They had repaired the road by last spring.
Convert To Passive: The road [[blank1]] [[blank2]] [[blank3]] by last spring.
Options: had, been, repaired, repair, repairing, was, were, has, the, road, by, last, be, being, spring
Verb (POS & meaning): repair — verb. To fix.
Key POS: they (agent), had repaired (past perfect), the road (object → subject), by last spring (time).
Correct Passive (blanks): The road [[had]] [[been]] [[repaired]] by last spring.
Explanation (detailed): Past perfect passive = had been + V3. This expresses completion before a past reference point.
Why distractors wrong: was/were simple past; had been together is correct but if blanks must be single words, split into three.
Trap/tip: Past perfect passive is used to show earlier completion relative to another past event.
2. Active: They imagine her being the leader. (gerund-participial phrase)
Convert To Passive: She [[blank1]] [[blank2]] [[blank3]] the leader.
Options: being, is, imagined, imagining, been, are, be, imagine, the, leader, her, by, them
Verb (POS & meaning): imagine — verb. To form a mental image or notion.
Key POS: they (agent), imagine (verb), her being the leader (gerund-participial clause).
Correct Passive (blanks): She [[is]] [[imagined]] [[being]] the leader.
Alternate passive conversion: She [[is]] [[imagined]] [[to]] be the leader.
Explanation (detailed): Verbs taking a gerund or to-infinitive can have messy passives. The clearer passive form is She is imagined to be the leader, following the pattern be + V3 + to + V1.
Why distractors wrong: being imagined combinations confusing; keep to standard is imagined to be.
Trap/tip: When original has gerund, consider rephrasing to is imagined to for better passive readability.
3. Active: They believe the problem to be solvable.
Convert To Passive: The problem [[blank1]] [[blank2]] to [[blank3]] solvable.
Options: is, believed, to, be, are, been, being, the, problem, solvable, by, they, believing, was, were, has, have
Verb (POS & meaning): believe — verb. To accept as true.
Key POS: they (agent), believe (verb), the problem (object → subject), to be solvable (infinitive complement).
Correct Passive (blanks): The problem [[is]] [[believed]] to [[be]] solvable.
Explanation (detailed): Passive with belief verbs commonly takes is believed to + V1: preserves the sense that people hold this belief.
Why distractors wrong: are wrong agreement; believed to be combined tile not single word blanks.
Trap/tip: Use is believed to widely for reported beliefs.
4. Active: Someone had stolen their bicycles before dawn.
Convert To Passive: Their bicycles had [[blank1]] [[blank2]] before dawn.
Options: had, been, stolen, was, were, be, being, steal, stealing, are, their, bicycles, before, dawn, by, someone
Verb (POS & meaning): steal — verb. To take unlawfully.
Key POS: someone (agent), had stolen (past perfect), their bicycles (object → subject), before dawn (time).
Correct Passive (blanks): Their bicycles had [[been]] [[stolen]] before dawn.
Explanation (detailed): Past perfect passive indicates theft occurred before another past time; structure had been + V3 is used.
Why distractors wrong: was/were change tense; are present.
Trap/tip: Perfect passives always include been after perfect auxiliary.
5. Active: The committee will appoint a new chair next month.
Convert To Passive: A new chair [[blank1]] [[blank2]] [[blank3]] next month.
Options: will, be, appointed, appoint, appoints, appointing, would, being, been, is, are, the, new, chair, next, month, by, committee
Verb (POS & meaning): appoint — verb. To designate someone formally.
Key POS: the committee (agent), will appoint (future), a new chair (object → subject).
Correct Passive (blanks): A new chair [[will]] [[be]] [[appointed]] next month.
Explanation (detailed): Future simple passive uses will be + V3. The agent (the committee) is optional and usually omitted.
Why distractors wrong: is/are wrong tense; appointed needs auxiliary be.
Trap/tip: Future passives split will / be / V3 into separate blanks for clarity.
6. Active: The mayor will inaugurate the new community center next Monday.
Convert To Passive: The new community center [[blank1]] [[blank2]] [[blank3]] next Monday.
Options: will, be, inaugurated, inaugurate, was, were, new, community, center, next, monday, by
Verb (POS & meaning): inaugurate — verb. To formally open or introduce (a building, project).
Key POS: the mayor (agent), will inaugurate (future), the new community center (object → subject), next Monday (time).
Correct Passive (blanks): The new community center [[will]] [[be]] [[inaugurated]] next Monday.
Explanation: Future simple passive uses will + be + V3. The object becomes the subject (the community center), while the agent (the mayor) is optional and usually omitted. This form keeps the future meaning and highlights the center rather than the mayor.
Why distractors wrong: inaugurate (V1) is the base form — wrong for passive; was/were convert the tense to past; other nouns are not auxiliaries.
Trap/tip: Future passive must include be after will; don’t drop it.
7. Active: The committee had rejected the proposal earlier that week.
Convert To Passive: The proposal [[blank1]] [[blank2]] [[blank3]] earlier that week.
Options: had, been, rejected, rejecting, was, were, earlier, has, that, have, week, proposal, being, the, by
Verb (POS & meaning): reject — verb. To refuse approval or acceptance.
Key POS: the committee (agent), had rejected (past perfect), the proposal (object → subject), earlier that week (time).
Correct Passive (blanks): The proposal [[had]] [[been]] [[rejected]] earlier that week.
Explanation: Past perfect passive uses had + been + V3. The tense reveals the rejection was completed before another past point; passive emphasizes the proposal rather than who rejected it.
Why distractors wrong: was/were switch to simple past; rejected duplicate okay but must be paired with auxiliaries; nouns not auxiliaries.
Trap/tip: Remember been is essential after perfect auxiliaries in passive forms.
8. Active: Many believe the invention to have transformed communication.
Convert To Passive: The invention [[blank1]] [[blank2]] to [[blank3]] [[blank4]] communication.
Options: is, believed, to, are, believe, believing, have, has, been, transformed, invent, many, the, by, had, transform, being
Verb (POS & meaning): believe — verb. To accept as true; have (perfect infinitive) — to indicate completed action in infinitive form.
Key POS: many (agent), believe (verb), the invention (object → subject), to have transformed (perfect infinitive complement).
Correct Passive (blanks): The invention [[is]] [[believed]] to [[have]] [[transformed]] communication.
Explanation: Passive with belief + perfect infinitive uses is believed to have + V3: object becomes subject, passive is believed indicates common opinion, and to have transformed shows the transformation is considered completed.
Why distractors wrong: has/been misplace auxiliaries; transformed needs perfect infinitive to reflect completed action.
Trap/tip: For reporting beliefs about completed actions, use is believed to have + V3.
9. Active: The engineer had been testing the prototype for weeks.
Convert To Passive: The prototype [[blank1]] [[blank2]] [[blank3]] [[blank4]] for weeks.
Options: had, been, be, being, tested, test, was, testing, were, prototype, the, for, weeks
Verb (POS & meaning): test — verb. To examine functionality.
Key POS: the engineer (agent), had been testing (past perfect continuous), the prototype (object → subject).
Correct Passive (blanks): The prototype [[had]] [[been]] [[being]] [[tested]] for weeks.
Explanation: Past perfect continuous passive (rare but grammatical) uses had + been + being + V3. It preserves the progressive aspect indicating ongoing testing up to a past point. Note: this form is heavy; often writers rephrase it into Past Perfect Passive Voice for simplicity (e.g., The prototype had been tested for weeks), but grammatically the sequence is valid.
Why distractors wrong: had been tested loses continuous nuance; was/were change tense/aspect.
Trap/tip: Continuous perfect passives are unusual — prefer simpler alternatives in learner material but include them for exam-level practice.
10. Active: The police can detain suspects for questioning.
Convert To Passive: Suspects [[blank1]] [[blank2]] [[blank3]] for questioning.
Options: can, be, detained, detain, being, been, could, are, were, suspects, for, detain, detaining, questioning, by
Verb (POS & meaning): detain — verb. To keep someone in custody temporarily.
Key POS: the police (agent), can (modal), detain (V1), suspects (object → subject), for questioning (purpose).
Correct Passive (blanks): Suspects [[can]] [[be]] [[detained]] for questioning.
Explanation: Modal passive pattern: modal + be + V3. The modal can expresses possibility/ability; passive keeps modal meaning and focuses on suspects rather than police.
Why distractors wrong: detain base form wrong; are/were remove the modal nuance.
Trap/tip: For any modal (may/must/should/can), passive uses modal + be + V3.