English Grammar - Active Voice and Passive Voice: 105 MCQs with Answers

Active Voice and Passive Voice - English Grammar
English Grammar - Active Voice and Passive Voice

English Grammar- Active Voice and Passive Voice

Learn Active Voice and Passive Voice in English Grammar with complete explanations, sentence structures, transformation rules, tense-wise conversion, examples, common mistakes, exercises, and multiple-choice questions (MCQs). This comprehensive guide helps students understand how to convert sentences from active to passive voice and vice versa. Ideal for school students and candidates preparing for HTET, CTET, TET, SSC, Banking, UPSC, NDA, CDS, and other competitive examinations.

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Q1. Select the option that expresses the given sentence in passive voice : He wants someone to take photographs.

Right Answer: He wants photographs to be taken.


Explanation:

The main verb ‘wants’ stays in the active voice because its subject ‘He’ is unchanged; it is the subordinate infinitive that is turned into the passive. ‘Someone to take photographs’ becomes ‘photographs to be taken’, and the vague agent ‘someone’ is dropped, since in the passive an indefinite agent is normally omitted. The result is ‘He wants photographs to be taken.’ Option two wrongly shifts the tense to the past, option three is simply the active sentence in the past tense, and option four wrongly makes ‘him’ the agent of the taking.

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Q2. Change the following from active to passive: They have been neglecting maintenance of the archives for years.

Right Answer: Maintenance of the archives has been being neglected by them for years.


Explanation:

The active sentence is in the present perfect continuous tense, shown by 'have been neglecting'. To convert any tense into the passive voice the object becomes the subject and the verb takes the form of 'be' appropriate to that tense followed by the past participle. For the present perfect continuous the required structure is 'has/have been being' plus the past participle. Since the new subject 'maintenance' is singular, the correct form is 'has been being neglected'. The other options shift the sentence into the past perfect, present continuous or past continuous, changing the tense. Hence option four is correct.
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Q3. Convert the sentence provided below from its passive voice structure to an active voice structure: It was being suggested by multiple sources that the operation had been compromised internally.

Right Answer: Multiple sources suggested the operation was compromised internally.


Explanation:

In the passive sentence the real doer of the action is 'multiple sources', introduced by the preposition 'by'. To form the active voice this agent must become the grammatical subject and the verb must be recast accordingly, giving 'Multiple sources suggested'. The reported clause then follows naturally as 'the operation was compromised internally'. Option one does exactly this and preserves the original meaning. Option two keeps a passive main clause, option three distorts the sense by turning the report into a noun phrase, and option four reverses the roles entirely by making the operation the doer. Hence option one is correct.
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Q4. Change the following from active to passive: People can seldom access archived manuscripts without clearance.

Right Answer: Archived manuscripts can seldom be accessed without clearance.


Explanation:

When an active sentence contains a modal auxiliary such as 'can', the passive is formed by keeping the modal and adding 'be' plus the past participle. Here the object 'archived manuscripts' becomes the subject, and 'can access' becomes 'can be accessed', giving 'Archived manuscripts can seldom be accessed without clearance'. The agent 'people' is indefinite and is normally dropped. Option one wrongly uses 'being' after the modal, option two shifts the tense by replacing 'can' with 'could', and option four rewrites the structure as 'are able to', changing the form. Hence option three is correct.
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Q5. Convert the sentence provided below from its passive voice structure to an active voice structure: The package is delivered to the office every morning.

Right Answer: Someone delivers the package to the office every morning.


Explanation:

The passive sentence gives no agent, since it does not say by whom the package is delivered. When the doer is unknown or unimportant, the active version must supply an indefinite subject such as 'someone', 'people' or 'they'. Option two does this correctly and preserves both the simple present tense and the prepositional phrase 'to the office'. Option one wrongly makes 'the office' the doer, when in fact the office is the destination. Option three changes the tense to the present perfect, and option four absurdly makes the package deliver itself. Hence option two is correct.
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Q6. Change the following from active to passive: Why did the editor overlook the substantial stylistic anomalies?

Right Answer: Why were the substantial stylistic anomalies overlooked by the editor?


Explanation:

The active sentence is an interrogative in the simple past, formed with the auxiliary 'did' plus the bare verb 'overlook'. In the passive, the object 'the substantial stylistic anomalies' becomes the subject, and because it is plural the past form of 'be' must be 'were', followed by the past participle 'overlooked'. The question word 'Why' stays at the front. This produces option four. Option one shifts to the present perfect, option two to the present continuous, and option three keeps 'did' alongside 'be', which is ungrammatical. Hence option four is correct.
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Q7. Convert the sentence provided below from its passive voice structure to an active voice structure: It has been alleged that confidential data was being leaked by insiders within the firm.

Right Answer: Insiders have allegedly been leaking confidential data within the firm.


Explanation:

The sentence contains two passive layers. The outer layer, 'It has been alleged', has no stated agent and is best rendered by the adverb 'allegedly'. The inner layer identifies 'insiders' as the real doer, so they must become the grammatical subject of the active sentence. Combining both gives 'Insiders have allegedly been leaking confidential data within the firm', which preserves the present perfect continuous force of the original. Option one drops the allegation entirely, option two remains passive, and option four reverses the roles by making the firm the leaker. Hence option three is correct.
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Q8. Change the following from active to passive: Why did the editor overlook the substantial stylistic anomalies?

Right Answer: Why were the substantial stylistic anomalies overlooked by the editor?


Explanation:

The given sentence is an interrogative in the simple past tense, formed with the auxiliary 'did' and the base verb 'overlook'. When such a sentence is changed into the passive voice, the object 'the substantial stylistic anomalies' becomes the subject, the verb takes the form 'was' or 'were' with the past participle, and the original subject moves after 'by'. Since the new subject is plural, the correct auxiliary is 'were', giving 'Why were the substantial stylistic anomalies overlooked by the editor?'. Options one and two wrongly shift the tense, and option three is grammatically impossible. Hence option four is correct.
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Q9. Convert the sentence provided below from its passive voice structure to an active voice structure: It has been alleged that confidential data was being leaked by insiders within the firm.

Right Answer: Insiders have allegedly been leaking confidential data within the firm.


Explanation:

The original sentence has two passive elements, namely the impersonal opening 'It has been alleged' and the inner clause 'was being leaked by insiders'. In the active version, the agent 'insiders' must become the subject and the idea of allegation should be retained through the adverb 'allegedly'. Option three does both, giving 'Insiders have allegedly been leaking confidential data within the firm.' Option one drops the sense of allegation completely, option two remains partly passive, and option four changes the meaning by making the firm the doer. Hence option three is the correct active form.
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Q10. Change the following from active to passive: The laboratory will have double-checked the reagents by dawn.

Right Answer: The reagents will have been double-checked by the laboratory by dawn.


Explanation:

The active sentence stands in the future perfect tense: 'The laboratory will have double-checked the reagents by dawn.' To convert a future perfect active into the passive, the object becomes the subject and the verb takes the form 'will have been' plus the past participle. So 'the reagents' moves into subject position, the verb becomes 'will have been double-checked', and the original subject is reintroduced by 'by the laboratory'. Option one wrongly uses the present perfect, option three uses the simple future, and option four keeps an active continuous form. Hence option two is correct.
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Published: 16 July 2026 | Last Updated: 08 September 2026 |


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Deepak - Educational Content Creator

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