Difference Between Active and Passive Voice Practice — Exercise 4 (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 PR team briefed the press ahead of the announcement.
A) The press were briefed ahead of the announcement by the PR team.
B) The press were briefing ahead of the announcement by the PR team.
C) The press were briefed ahead of the announcement.
D) The press had been briefed ahead of the announcement by the PR team.
Verb: brief — verb. To inform or prepare with details.
Key POS: briefed (past), the press (object).
A) Correct: were briefed… by the PR team — past passive with agent.
B) Wrong: Progressive form changes meaning.
C) Wrong: Missing agent (but could be acceptable—A better since agent present).
D) Wrong: Past perfect passive — wrong aspect.
2. Active: The team chairperson prioritized the backlog items this morning.
A) The backlog items were prioritized this morning by the team chairperson.
B) The backlog items prioritized this morning by the team chairperson.
C) The backlog items have been prioritized this morning by the team chairperson.
D) The backlog items had been prioritized this morning by the team chairperson.
Verb: prioritize — verb. To rank by importance.
Key POS: prioritized (past), backlog items (object).
A) Correct: were prioritized… by — past passive correct.
B-D) Wrong: Auxiliary/tense problems.
3. Active: The consultant recommended several adjustments at the review.
A) Several adjustments were recommended at the review by the consultant.
B) Several adjustments recommended at the review by the consultant.
C) Several adjustments have been recommended at the review by the consultant.
D) Several adjustments will be recommended at the review by the consultant.
Verb: recommend — verb. To suggest as advisable.
Key POS: recommended (past), several adjustments (object).
A) Correct: were recommended… by — past passive correct.
B-D) Wrong: Auxiliary/tense mismatch.
4. Active: The panel rejected the proposal after discussion.
A) The proposal was rejected after discussion by the panel.
B) The proposal rejected after discussion by the panel.
C) The proposal has been rejected after discussion by the panel.
D) The proposal had been rejected after discussion by the panel.
Verb: reject — verb. To refuse to accept.
Key POS: rejected (past), the proposal (object).
A) Correct: was rejected… by — correct simple past passive.
B-D) Wrong: Auxiliary or tense issues.
5. Active: The inspector assessed the building for safety compliance.
A) The building was assessed for safety compliance by the inspector.
B) The building assessed for safety compliance by the inspector.
C) The building has been assessed for safety compliance by the inspector.
D) The building had been assessed for safety compliance by the inspector.
Verb: assess — verb. To evaluate.
Key POS: assessed (past), the building (object).
A) Correct: was assessed… by — past passive.
B-D) Wrong: Auxiliary/tense errors.
6. Active: The legal team drafted a settlement agreement earlier today.
A) A settlement agreement was drafted earlier today by the legal team.
B) A settlement agreement drafted earlier today by the legal team.
C) A settlement agreement has been drafted earlier today by the legal team.
D) A settlement agreement will be drafted earlier today by the legal team.
Verb: draft — verb. To prepare a preliminary version of a document.
Key POS: drafted (past), earlier today (time).
A) Correct: was drafted… by — past passive correct.
B-D) Wrong: Auxiliary/tense errors.
7. Active: The board approved the merger unanimously yesterday.
A) The merger was approved unanimously yesterday by the board.
B) The merger approved unanimously yesterday by the board.
C) The merger had been approved unanimously yesterday by the board.
D) The merger has been approved unanimously yesterday by the board.
Verb: approve — verb. To accept or agree to formally.
Key POS: approved (past), unanimously (adverb).
A) Correct: was approved… by — simple past passive.
B-D) Wrong: Auxiliary/tense issues.
8. Active: The interns compiled the research references for the report.
A) The research references were compiled for the report by the interns.
B) The research references compiled for the report by the interns.
C) The research references have been compiled for the report by the interns.
D) The research references will have been compiled for the report by the interns.
Verb: compile — verb. To collect and assemble information.
Key POS: compiled (past), research references (object).
A) Correct: were compiled… by — past passive correct.
B-D) Wrong: Auxiliary/tense errors.
9. Active: The vendor invoiced the client for services on Friday.
A) The client was invoiced for services on Friday by the vendor.
B) The client invoiced for services on Friday by the vendor.
C) The client has been invoiced for services on Friday by the vendor.
D) The client had been invoiced for services on Friday by the vendor.
Verb: invoice — verb. To bill for goods or services.
Key POS: invoiced (past), client (object).
A) Correct: was invoiced… by — past passive correct.
B-D) Wrong: Auxiliary/tense mistakes.
10. Active: The editor-in-chief prompted corrections to the gallery captions.
A) Corrections to the gallery captions were prompted by the editor-in-chief.
B) Corrections to the gallery captions prompted by the editor-in-chief.
C) Corrections to the gallery captions have been prompted by the editor-in-chief.
D) Corrections to the gallery captions had been prompted by the editor-in-chief.
Verb: prompt — verb. To cause or bring about an action.
Key POS: prompted (past), corrections (object).
A) Correct: were prompted by — past passive correct.
B-D) Wrong: Auxiliary/tense issues.