Exercise 7: 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: The teacher let the students leave early.
Convert To Passive: The students [[blank1]] [[blank2]] to [[blank3]] early.
Options: were, letting, was, let, be, allowed, being, been, to, leave, left, leaving, by, the, students, teacher
Verb (POS & meaning): let — verb. To permit someone to do something.
Key POS: the teacher (agent), let (permission), the students (object → subject), leave (bare infinitive).
Correct Passive (blanks): The students [[were]] [[allowed]] to [[leave]] early.
Explanation (detailed): Let in active is best rendered as allow in passive: be allowed to + V1. So The teacher let the students leave → The students were allowed to leave. This retains permission meaning.
Why distractors wrong: were let is a colloquial passive of let but less formal; let alone is active.
Trap/tip: Prefer was/were allowed to in teaching materials for clarity.
2. Active: They reported him stealing the money. (perception + -ing)
Convert To Passive: [[blank1]] [[blank2]] [[blank3]] to have stolen the money.
Options: was, reporting, be, report, is, are, were, being, been, have, him, they, by, them, he, reported
Verb (POS & meaning): report/see/hear family — verbs of perception/communication.
Key POS: they/reporters (agent), reported/observed (verb), him (object → subject), stealing (V-ing).
Correct Passive (blanks): [[He]] [[was]] [[reported]] to have stolen the money. (Two different passive possibilities: “He was reported seen stealing” or “He was seen stealing.” The combined “was reported seen” is awkward. Better: Use They reported that he was stealing the money → Passive: He was reported to be stealing the money. But to show perception + -ing, we’ll give:)
Alternate cleaner conversion:
Active (rewritten): People saw him stealing the money.
Convert To Passive: He [[was]] [[seen]] [[stealing]] the money.
Explanation (detailed): Perception verbs can take be + V3 + V-ing: He was seen stealing. If the reporting verb is report, we often use reported to have V3 or reported to be V-ing. Keep verbs clear.
Why distractors wrong: was seen to be is more formal equivalent; was reported seen is ungrammatical.
Trap/tip: Separate reporting/perception verbs in exercises to avoid confusion.
3. Active: The gardener waters the plants every morning.
Convert To Passive: The plants [[blank1]] [[blank2]] every morning.
Options: are, is, watered, water, being, by, the, gardener, every, waters, morning, watering, was, were
Verb (POS & meaning): water — verb. To give water to plants.
Key POS: gardener (agent), waters (present simple), the plants (object → subject), every morning (time).
Correct Passive (blanks): The plants [[are]] [[watered]] every morning.
Explanation (detailed): Simple present passive uses is/are + V3. Plural plants requires are. Frequency adverbial remains.
Why distractors wrong: is wrong agreement; being would indicate continuous passive.
Trap/tip: Frequency expressions (every day) don’t affect auxiliary choice.
4. Active: They want her to open the account.
Convert To Passive: She [[blank1]] [[blank2]] to [[blank3]] the account.
Options: is, wanted, wanting, wants, was, were, to, be, being, been, open, opened, by, them, she
Verb (POS & meaning): want — verb. To desire someone to do something.
Key POS: they (agent), want (verb), her (object → subject in passive), to open (to-infinitive).
Correct Passive (blanks): She [[is]] [[wanted]] to [[open]] the account.
Explanation (detailed): With want + object + to-infinitive, the passive becomes Subject + be + wanted + to + V1: She is wanted to open the account. Note: is wanted to is grammatical but can sound odd; alternatives include They want her to open the account → She is wanted for opening the account (different meaning). Use is wanted to + V1 cautiously; often She is expected to open the account is more natural. For exercise purposes, this form illustrates the pattern.
Why distractors wrong: wanted to changes tense; be open misses the passive past participle.
Trap/tip: Some verbs produce awkward passives with to-infinitive — prefer natural alternatives in real text.
5. Active: The director appointed him team leader.
Convert To Passive: [[blank1]] [[blank2]] [[blank3]] team leader.
Options: was, appointed, is, appointing, become, became, being, been, be, were, are, is, to, by, the, director, him, he, they
Verb (POS & meaning): appoint — verb. To assign someone to a position.
Key POS: the director (agent), appointed (past), him (object → subject), team leader (object complement).
Correct Passive (blanks): [[He]] [[was]] [[appointed]] team leader.
Explanation (detailed): For verbs that take object + object complement, the passive uses be + V3 + object complement: He was appointed team leader. The complement (team leader) remains unchanged.
Why distractors wrong: is wrong tense; became is different verb meaning.
Trap/tip: Object complements (nouns/adjectives) remain after passive participle.
6. Active: They expect him to have finished the task. (modal-perfect infinitive)
Convert To Passive: He [[blank1]] [[blank2]] to [[blank3]] [[blank4]] the task.
Options: is, expected, expect, to, have, been, has, be, being, finish, finishes, finishing, finished, expecting, the, he, task, was, were, are
Verb (POS & meaning): expect — verb. To believe something will have happened.
Key POS: they (agent), expect (verb), him to have finished (object + perfect infinitive).
Correct Passive (blanks): He [[is]] [[expected]] to [[have]] [[finished]] the task.
Explanation (detailed): For perfect infinitive complements, passive uses be + V3 + to + have + V3: He is expected to have finished. This expresses expectation about a completed action.
Why distractors wrong: been wrong slot; has been changes active structure.
Trap/tip: Perfect infinitive in passive keeps have + V3 after to.
7. Active: Critics consider the film a masterpiece.
Convert To Passive: The film [[blank1]] [[blank2]] a masterpiece.
Options: is, was, considered, considering, consider, are, were, the, film, a, masterpiece, by, critics
Verb (POS & meaning): consider — verb. To judge or regard.
Key POS: critics (agent), consider (present), the film (object → subject), a masterpiece (object complement).
Correct Passive (blanks): The film [[is]] [[considered]] a masterpiece. (Alternatively: The film [[is]] [[considered]] [[to]] be a masterpiece if you want the to-infinitive.)
Explanation (detailed): Object complement remains after passive participle. Both is considered a masterpiece and is considered to be a masterpiece are correct with slight stylistic differences.
Why distractors wrong: was changes tense; considered to be is okay but uses more blanks.
Trap/tip: Show both variants to learners: adjective complement vs to-infinitive complement.
8. Active: They noticed him practicing the piano.
Convert To Passive: He [[blank1]] [[blank2]] [[blank3]] the piano.
Options: was, were, noticed, noticing, notice, being, been, be, practice, practicing, practiced, by, them, he, been, being
Verb (POS & meaning): notice — verb of perception. To observe.
Key POS: they (agent), noticed (past), him (object → subject), practicing (V-ing).
Correct Passive (blanks): He [[was]] [[noticed]] [[practicing]] the piano.
Explanation (detailed): Perception verbs can form passive with be + V3 + V-ing (showing the ongoing action observed): He was noticed practicing. This differs from He was noticed to practice, which is awkward.
Why distractors wrong: was noticed without practicing loses the -ing nuance; noticed to be less natural.
Trap/tip: Use be + V3 + V-ing for observed ongoing actions.
9. Active: They consider the proposal approved. (participial adjective V3 used as complement)
Convert To Passive: The proposal [[blank1]] [[blank2]] approved.
Options: is, was, considered, considering, approved, being, the, proposal, by, them, be, were
Verb (POS & meaning): consider — verb. Here, approved acts as a participial adjective meaning ‘regarded as approved’.
Key POS: they (agent), consider (present), the proposal (object → subject), approved (past participle/complement).
Correct Passive (blanks): The proposal [[is]] [[considered]] approved.
Explanation (detailed): When the complement is a past participle functioning as an adjective (approved), the passive keeps that complement: is considered approved. This indicates consensus that it is approved.
Why distractors wrong: was changes tense; considered to be is acceptable but longer.
Trap/tip: Distinguish participial adjectives (approved) from passive events (was approved by).
10. Active: They urged him to change his attitude.
Convert To Passive: [[blank1]] [[blank2]] [[blank3]] to [[blank4]] his attitude.
Options: was, urged, urging, is, to, be, change, changed, urge, he, they, she, were, by, them
Verb (POS & meaning): urge — verb. To strongly recommend.
Key POS: they (agent), urged (past), him (object → subject), to change (to-infinitive).
Correct Passive (blanks): [[He]] [[was]] [[urged]] to [[change]] his attitude.
Explanation (detailed): With verbs + object + to-infinitive, passive = be + V3 + to + V1: He was urged to change. This preserves the urging action and the required action.
Why distractors wrong: is changes tense; to change as a combined tile not allowed when one-word blanks required.
Trap/tip: Keep the to-infinitive intact after the passive participle.