Convert the sentence provided below from its passive voice structure to an active voice structure: The accused was believed to have been hiding in the hills before being captured.
- (a)The accused believed he was hiding in the hills.
- (b)Someone believed the accused had hidden in the hills.
- (c)It was believed that the accused had been hiding in the hills.
- (d)Authorities believed the accused was hiding in the hills.
Answer
Why
Correct — D. In the stem, the passive verb is was believed. 'To have been hiding' is already active, so the believer must become the subject: someone, or the authorities, believed...
That removes (a), which makes the accused the believer, and (c), which keeps 'It was believed'.
Between the two left, (d) keeps the continuous was hiding, while 'had hidden' in (b) drops the -ing → option (d).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)The accused believed he was hiding in the hills. — (a) makes the accused the believer: 'The accused believed he was hiding.' The stem says others believed something about the accused, so the meaning changes.
- (b)Someone believed the accused had hidden in the hills. — (b) makes 'believed' active, but 'had hidden' drops the continuous -ing of 'have been hiding'. The key prefers (d), which keeps 'hiding' as an ongoing state.
- (c)It was believed that the accused had been hiding in the hills. — (c) is still passive: It was believed that... is the stem's own passive recast with 'it'. Since 'had been hiding' was already active, nothing has been converted.
Concept
A 'believed to' passive has two verbs. In 'The accused was believed to have been hiding', only the first is passive, and its doer is unstated.
To make it active, supply a general doer (people, someone, the authorities) and make 'believed' active. The infinitive becomes a that-clause, and 'to have been hiding' moves back to had been hiding.
A version that keeps 'It was believed' has changed the structure, not the voice.
No option is tense-exact. 'Was believed to have been hiding' becomes '[Someone] believed that the accused had been hiding': (d) keeps the continuous but drops the 'had', and (b) keeps the 'had' but drops the continuous.
The key settles on (d). 'Before being captured' appears in none of the four options.
Key facts
- 'X was believed to be doing' becomes '[Someone] believed that X was doing'.
- 'X was believed to have been doing' becomes '[Someone] believed that X had been doing'.
- 'It was believed that...' is still passive: the verb believe has not changed voice.
- When the stem names no doer, supply a general subject such as people, someone or the authorities.
Study next
Common traps
- Choosing (c) because its tense is the most faithful, without noticing that 'It was believed' is still passive
- Choosing (a) because it begins with the stem's subject, 'The accused', which turns the accused into the believer
The same frame is asked at 14 Sep 2025, 12:30, English Q.14 and 21 Sep 2025, 16:00, English Q.20.
There the key turns active the verb with a named doer ('by the company', 'by the council') and leaves 'is believed' or 'It was expected' alone.
Here no verb has a named doer, so 'believed' itself must turn active.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.