SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 12 September 2024, Shift 1 · English Comprehension · Question 10 of 99

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 6 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Select the option that expresses the following sentence in passive voice. Sonam does not like bananas.

(a)Bananas had not been liked by Sonam.
(b)Bananas have not been liked by Sonam.
(c)Bananas are not liked by Sonam.
(d)Banana is not liked by Sonam.

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The active verb is does not like — simple present, negative.

Simple present becomes passive as is/are + past participle, so 'like' turns into 'are ... liked' and the tense of the sentence does not move.

The old object bananas becomes the new subject. It is plural, so the auxiliary is are, not 'is', and 'not' sits on that auxiliary: 'Bananas are not liked by Sonam.' — option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Bananas had not been liked by Sonam. — 'Had not been liked' is the past perfect passive. It would translate an active 'Sonam had not liked bananas', and the paper's verb is a plain simple present.
(b)
Bananas have not been liked by Sonam. — 'Have not been liked' is the present perfect passive, matching 'Sonam has not liked bananas'. The perfect auxiliary has nothing in the active sentence to answer to.
(d)
Banana is not liked by Sonam. — The tense is right, but 'Banana is' quietly turns the plural object into a singular. Voice change carries the object across unchanged, and the object is 'bananas'.

Concept

Voice change swaps the roles and keeps the tense. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject, the verb becomes be + past participle, and the old subject follows by.

Only the form of be moves with the tense: simple present → is/are, simple past → was/were, present perfect → has/have been.

Two agreements then have to be checked. The auxiliary agrees with the new subject, and in a negative sentence 'not' attaches to that auxiliary — 'does not like' gives 'are not liked'.

All four options are grammatical passive sentences read on their own. What decides the item is the tense of 'does not like' and the number of 'bananas', so check both before you choose.

Key facts

Simple present active becomes is/are + past participle in the passive.
The passive auxiliary agrees with the new subject, which is the old object — plural 'bananas' takes are.
Voice change never changes the tense of a sentence, only the form of the verb be.
In a negative, 'not' attaches to the passive auxiliary: 'does not like' becomes 'are not liked'.

Study next

Passive of the perfect tenses: has been done, had been donePassive of modal verbs: must be delivered, could have been sentPassive of negative and interrogative sentences

Common traps

Choosing 'have not been liked' because 'bananas' is plural — the perfect auxiliary follows the tense, not the subject's number.
Skimming option (d) as correct and missing that it has changed 'bananas' to 'banana'.

Voice change recurs across SSC CGL shifts and the tested tense rotates.

Simple present is keyed at 24 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.8 ('The chef prepares the meal'), simple past negative at 19 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.18 ('Inayat did not greet her'), and past continuous negative at 18 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.11 ('The tutor was not teaching the student').

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.