SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 23 September 2024, Shift 1 · English Comprehension · Question 4 of 97

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 given sentence in passive voice. I have booked an apartment in the new residential colony.

(a)An apartment had been booked by me in the new residential colony.
(b)An apartment have been booked by me in the new residential colony.
(c)An apartment has been booked by me in the new residential colony.
(d)An apartment is been booked by me in the new residential colony.

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The active sentence is "I have booked an apartment". The tense is present perfect (have + booked), and a voice change never moves the tense.

The present perfect passive frame is have/has been + past participle.

The new subject is "An apartment", which is singular, so the auxiliary has to be has, not have.

has been booked → "An apartment has been booked by me in the new residential colony." That is option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
An apartment had been booked by me in the new residential colony. — "had been booked" is past perfect. The active sentence is present perfect, and changing voice must not change the tense.
(b)
An apartment have been booked by me in the new residential colony. — "have been booked" carries the auxiliary straight over from "I have". The new subject is "an apartment", singular, so it takes has.
(d)
An apartment is been booked by me in the new residential colony. — "is been booked" is not an English form. "Been" follows only have, has or had, and the simple present passive would be "is booked".

Concept

Changing voice moves the object into subject position and the old subject into a "by" phrase. What it must never move is the tense.

Present perfect active is have/has + past participle. Its passive is have/has been + past participle, with have or has chosen by the new subject.

That second half is where marks are lost. "I have booked" becomes "has been booked", because the subject of the passive sentence is the singular "an apartment", not "I".

All four options keep "by me" and the adverbial phrase unchanged, so the item turns entirely on the auxiliary. Compare the options at that one word and ignore the rest.

Key facts

Present perfect passive is have/has been + past participle.
After a voice change the auxiliary agrees with the new subject, not the old one.
"Been" can follow only have, has or had, never is, am or are.
A voice change never alters the tense of the original sentence.

Study next

Past perfect passive: had been + past participlePassive with modals: must be delivered, could have been sentPassive of questions and of imperative sentences

Common traps

Carrying "have" over from the active subject "I".
Reaching for "had been" because a completed action feels like the past.

The same have-to-has switch is keyed at 11 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.1: "The teachers of our school have already taken this training" becomes "This training has already been taken…", because the new subject is singular.

The present perfect passive is also asked at 12 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.17 ("Someone has taken my secret diary" → "My secret diary has been taken by someone"). There the active auxiliary is already "has", so what is being tested is the frame have/has been + participle, not the agreement.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.