Difference Between Passive Voice to Active Voice — Exercise 8 (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 backup had been completed by the server before the outage started.
A) The server had completed the backup before the outage started.
B) The server completed the backup before the outage started.
C) The backup had completed the server before the outage started.
D) The server has completed the backup before the outage started.
Verb: complete — to finish.
POS notes: had been completed = past perfect passive; before the outage started (time clause).
A (Correct): Past perfect passive → active past perfect: had completed. Shows the backup finished before the outage.
B (Why wrong): Simple past changes sequence nuance.
C (Why wrong): Reverses roles.
D (Why wrong): Present perfect not fitting with “before the outage started” (past reference).
2. Passive: The dataset can be exported by clicking the export button.
A) You can export the dataset by clicking the export button.
B) The dataset can export you by clicking the export button.
C) Clicking the export button can export the dataset by you.
D) You can be exporting the dataset by clicking the export button.
Verb: export — to save or transfer data out.
POS notes: can be exported = modal passive for ability/instruction.
A (Correct): Modal passive can + be + V3 → active can + base verb with you as the natural agent for an instruction. Very common in UIs.
B (Why wrong): Reverses roles — nonsense.
C (Why wrong): Awkward construction and wrong agent placing.
D (Why wrong): Progressive modal can be exporting changes meaning and is odd for an instruction.
3. Passive: The record was sealed by the court after review.
A) The court sealed the record after review.
B) The court was sealing the record after review.
C) The record sealed the court after review.
D) The court has sealed the record after review.
Verb: seal — to close or make confidential.
POS notes: was sealed = past simple passive.
A (Correct): Simple conversion to past simple active — direct match.
B (Why wrong): Past continuous is not an exact tense match; suggests an ongoing action rather than a completed one.
C (Why wrong): Reverses roles.
D (Why wrong): Present perfect has a different time perspective — suggests recent completion but not the same as a simple past event.
4. Passive: The test cases have been automated by QA to speed release cycles.
A) QA has automated the test cases to speed release cycles.
B) QA automated the test cases to speed release cycles.
C) The test cases have automated QA to speed release cycles.
D) QA will have automated the test cases to speed release cycles.
Verb: automate — to make processes run without human intervention.
POS notes: have been automated = present perfect passive.
A (Correct): Present perfect passive → present perfect active: has automated. Keeps current relevance (automation is in place).
B (Why wrong): Simple past is okay but not the exact tense and nuance.
C (Why wrong): Reverses roles.
D (Why wrong): Future perfect — different time implication.
5. Passive: The certification will be granted upon completion of training by the accrediting body.
A) The accrediting body will grant the certification upon completion of training.
B) The accrediting body will be granting the certification upon completion of training.
C) The certification will grant the accrediting body upon completion of training.
D) The accrediting body has granted the certification upon completion of training.
Verb: grant — to give formally (a certificate, permission).
POS notes: will be granted = future simple passive; upon completion = condition/time.
A (Correct): Agent becomes subject and uses will grant — direct future active conversion. Keeps the condition.
B (Why wrong): Future continuous (will be granting) suggests an ongoing action — different nuance but not identical.
C (Why wrong): Reverses roles.
D (Why wrong): Present perfect indicates it’s already given — wrong tense.
6. Passive: The final proposal was reviewed by the committee yesterday.
A) The committee reviews the final proposal yesterday.
B) The committee reviewed the final proposal yesterday.
C) The committee has reviewed the final proposal yesterday.
D) The committee is reviewing the final proposal yesterday.
Vocabulary (POS & Meaning):
review (verb): to check, examine, or evaluate something carefully.
B) Correct: Passive uses was reviewed → past simple.
The doer “the committee” becomes the subject.
“Yesterday” requires simple past, not present or perfect.
A) Wrong: “Reviews” is present tense → does not match “yesterday.”
C) Wrong: Present perfect cannot be used with past time words like “yesterday.”
D) Wrong: Present continuous “is reviewing” cannot describe a completed action.
7. Passive: An apology will be issued by the company tomorrow.
A) The company will issue an apology tomorrow.
B) The company issues an apology tomorrow.
C) The company has issued an apology tomorrow.
D) The company is issuing an apology tomorrow.
Vocabulary:
issue (verb): to formally give or release something.
A) Correct: Passive: will be issued → Active: will issue.
Matches the future time “tomorrow.”
B) Wrong: Present tense cannot fit a future time word.
C) Wrong: Present perfect cannot refer to tomorrow.
D) Wrong: Present continuous does not equal future perfect or simple future meaning here.
8. Passive: The damaged equipment had been inspected by the technicians before repairs started.
A) The technicians inspected the damaged equipment before repairs started.
B) The technicians have inspected the damaged equipment before repairs started.
C) The technicians inspect the damaged equipment before repairs started.
D) The technicians will inspect the damaged equipment before repairs started.
Vocabulary:
inspect (verb): to check something carefully for problems.
A) Correct: Passive: had been inspected → past perfect → Active: had inspected.
BUT in active voice, “had inspected” simplifies to “inspected” because “before repairs started” already shows the sequence.
Most natural and correct form.
B) Wrong: Present perfect cannot occur before a past event.
C) Wrong: Present tense does not fit the time relationship.
D) Wrong: Future tense incorrectly suggests repairs haven’t started yet.
9. Passive: A replacement card is being prepared by the bank.
A) The bank prepares a replacement card.
B) The bank is preparing a replacement card.
C) The bank prepared a replacement card.
D) The bank has prepared a replacement card.
Vocabulary:
prepare (verb): to make something ready.
B) Correct: “Is being prepared” → present continuous passive → Active: “is preparing.”
A) Wrong: Simple present lacks the ongoing sense.
C) Wrong: Past tense does not match “is being” (present time).
D) Wrong: Present perfect shows completion, but the passive shows ongoing activity.
10. Passive: Several complaints have been filed by residents this week.
A) Residents file several complaints this week.
B) Residents will file several complaints this week.
C) Residents have filed several complaints this week.
D) Residents filed several complaints this week.
Vocabulary:
file (verb): to officially submit or record something.
C) Correct: “Have been filed” → present perfect passive → Active: “have filed.”
Matches time marker “this week.”
A) Wrong: Present simple + “this week” is unnatural.
B) Wrong: Future tense does not match passive meaning.
D) Wrong: Past simple doesn’t match “have been…”
