Difference Between Passive Voice to Active Voice — Exercise 2 (Tenses, Modals, Infinitive, Participle, Gerund, All English Grammar Included) Enrich Your Vocabulary
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. Passive: The manuscript had been rejected twice before by the publisher.
A) The publisher had rejected the manuscript twice before.
B) The publisher rejected the manuscript twice before.
C) The manuscript had rejected the publisher twice before.
D) The publisher has rejected the manuscript twice before.
Verb: reject — verb. To refuse to accept.
Key POS: had been rejected (past perfect passive), twice (frequency).
A) Correct: Past perfect passive → active past perfect with agent as subject: had rejected.
B) Wrong: (simple past) loses the “had” nuance about a prior time.
C) Wrong: reverses roles.
D) Wrong: is present perfect (different timing).
2. Passive: The course materials are being prepared for next month by the trainer.
A) The trainer is preparing the course materials for next month.
B) The trainer prepares the course materials for next month.
C) Course materials are preparing the trainer for next month.
D) The trainer has prepared the course materials for next month.
Verb: prepare — verb. To make ready.
Key POS: are being prepared (present continuous passive), next month (future arrangement).
A) Correct: Present continuous passive are being + V3 → active present continuous is preparing with trainer as subject.
A keeps the “in progress” sense appropriate for preparation.
B) Wrong: (present simple) loses the sense of current action.
C) Wrong: reverses roles.
D) Wrong: (present perfect) changes timing (says it’s already done).
3. Passive: The project costs might have been underestimated.
A) Someone might have underestimated the project costs.
B) Someone might underestimate the project costs.
C) The project costs might have underestimated someone.
D) Someone must have underestimated the project costs.
Verb: underestimate — verb. To think something is smaller than it is.
Key POS: might have been underestimated (modal perfect passive).
A) Correct: Modal perfect passive (might have been + V3) → active might have + V3 with agent as subject.
A reflects possibility that someone underestimated costs.
B) Wrong: uses simple modal (no perfect).
C) Wrong: reverses roles.
D) Wrong: switches modal to certainty (“must”).
4. Passive: The guests had been welcomed before the rain started by the host.
A) The host had welcomed the guests before the rain started.
B) The host welcomed the guests before the rain started.
C) The guests had welcomed the host before the rain started.
D) The host has welcomed the guests before the rain started.
Verb: welcome — verb. To greet.
Key POS: had been welcomed (past perfect passive).
A) Correct: Past perfect passive becomes active past perfect: had welcomed with host as subject.
B) Wrong: (simple past) lacks the past perfect nuance.
C) Wrong: flips roles.
D) Wrong: present perfect (different timeframe).
5. Passive: The scaffolding will be inspected tomorrow morning by the contractor.
A) The contractor will inspect the scaffolding tomorrow morning.
B) The contractor will be inspecting the scaffolding tomorrow morning.
C) Tomorrow morning the scaffolding will inspect the contractor.
D) The scaffolding will have been inspected tomorrow morning by the contractor.
Verb: inspect — verb. To examine for safety.
Key POS: will be inspected (future passive), tomorrow morning (time).
A) Correct: Convert passive future to active future: will be inspected → will inspect, putting contractor first.
B) Wrong: changes aspect to continuous (still could be OK but changes nuance).
C) Wrong: flips roles.
D) Wrong: is future perfect passive (different sense of completion).
6. Passive: Hundreds of saplings have been planted this season by the volunteers.
A) The volunteers have planted hundreds of saplings this season.
B) The volunteers planted hundreds of saplings this season.
C) Hundreds of saplings have planted volunteers this season.
D) The volunteers will have planted hundreds of saplings this season.
Verb: plant — verb. To put young trees in the ground.
Key POS: have been planted (present perfect passive), this season (time).
A) Correct: Present perfect passive → active present perfect: have planted with volunteers as subject.
A keeps sense (“this season” is ongoing window).
B) Wrong: is simple past (less precise).
C) Wrong: wrong word order.
D) Wrong: future perfect (wrong time).
7. Passive: An emergency statement should be prepared today by the director.
A) The director should prepare an emergency statement today.
B) The director should be preparing an emergency statement today.
C) Today an emergency statement should prepare the director.
D) The director must have prepared an emergency statement today.
Verb: prepare — verb. To make ready.
Key POS: should be prepared (modal passive), today (time).
A) Correct: Modal passive should + be + V3 → active should + base verb with agent subject.
A expresses the same obligation/expectation.
B) Wrong: changes to progressive (suggests ongoing action).
C) Wrong: flips roles.
D) Wrong: changes modal to certainty.
8. Passive: The exam results will be announced at noon.
A) They will announce the exam results at noon.
B) Somebody will announce the exam results at noon.
C) The exam results will announce the board at noon.
D) Somebody will be announcing the exam results at noon.
Verb: announce — verb. To make public.
Key POS: will be announced (future passive), at noon (time).
B) Correct: The passive sentence has no clear by agent, so the active subject could be any appropriate agent.
Option B uses Somebody, which is the most appropriate way to use – You can use Someone, somebody or name a realistic agent like (the board, the committee, the university, …) who would likely perform announcements — this matches a sensible active conversion.
A) Wrong: uses “they” (vague) — grammatically OK but less specific; B is clearer and therefore chosen here.
C) Wrong: flips roles (wrong).
D) Wrong: is grammatically okay but uses progressive; it changes the sense.
9. Passive: The last customer had already been served when I arrived by the barista.
A) The barista had already served the last customer when I arrived.
B) The barista served the last customer when I arrived.
C) The last customer had already served the barista when I arrived.
D) The barista has already served the last customer when I arrived.
Verb: serve — verb. To provide food/drink/service.
Key POS: had already been served (past perfect passive), when I arrived (time).
A) Correct: Past perfect passive → active past perfect with the agent as subject: had already served.
A keeps the correct time sequence: serving happened before arrival.
B) Wrong: simple past loses the “already” past-before-past nuance.
C) Wrong: flips roles.
D) Wrong: present perfect (wrong time).
10. Passive: The new firmware is being tested this afternoon by engineers.
A) Engineers are testing the new firmware this afternoon.
B) Engineers test the new firmware this afternoon.
C) The new firmware is testing engineers this afternoon.
D) Engineers have tested the new firmware this afternoon.
Verb: test — verb. To check operation.
Key POS: is being tested (present continuous passive), this afternoon (time).
A) Correct: Present continuous passive → active present continuous: are testing with engineers as subject.
A matches the scheduled ongoing test.
B) Wrong: (present simple) is less natural for planned immediate activity.
C) Wrong: flips roles.
D) Wrong: (present perfect) indicates completion, not current testing.