Select the option that expresses the given sentence in passive voice. Each candidate was making tall promises.
- (a)Tall promises will be made by each candidate.
- (b)Tall promises are being made by each candidate.
- (c)Tall promises are made by each candidate.
- (d)Tall promises were being made by each candidate.
Answer
Why
Correct — D. The active verb is was making, a past continuous, and the continuous keeps its being in the passive.
Past continuous passive frame: was or were being + past participle — so making becomes being made.
The object tall promises moves up to subject, and it is plural, so the be verb is were: the passive verb agrees with the new subject, not with the old one.
Tall promises were being made by each candidate — option (d).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)Tall promises will be made by each candidate. — will be made is the future simple passive. The original describes something already under way in the past, so the time frame is wrong.
- (b)Tall promises are being made by each candidate. — are being made is the present continuous passive. It keeps the continuous aspect but moves the action into the present, while was making is firmly past.
- (c)Tall promises are made by each candidate. — are made is the simple present passive. It loses the continuous aspect as well as the past time, and reads as a general truth rather than an action in progress.
Concept
Continuous tenses keep being in the passive, and that is where the marks go.
Past continuous: was or were + V-ing becomes was or were being + past participle.
Present continuous: is or are + V-ing becomes is or are being + past participle.
The number of the passive be verb is fixed by the promoted object, not by the original subject. Each candidate is singular and tall promises is plural, so were being is right even though the active sentence says was.
That agreement switch is the whole difficulty of this item. A candidate who converts the frame correctly but carries was across from the active sentence produces a form the paper does not even offer.
Key facts
- Past continuous passive is was or were plus being plus a past participle.
- The passive be verb agrees with the object promoted to subject.
- Each candidate is singular but tall promises is plural, so the passive takes were.
Study next
Common traps
- Writing was being made because the active sentence says was
- Dropping being, which collapses the continuous into a simple tense
The same conversion recurs across shifts. 12 Sep 2024, 12:30 turns Scientists were conducting experiments into the passive at English Q.18, and 11 Sep 2024, 16:00 runs it in reverse at English Q.15, from was being typed back to the active.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.