Convert the sentence provided below from its passive voice structure to an active voice structure: The children were made to apologize by the principal for their behavior.

Correct — C. The passive verb is were made to apologize: the causative make, in the simple past.

Turn it round: the agent, the principal, becomes the subject, and the children become the object.

In the active, make + object + bare infinitive drops the to: made the children apologize, and for their behavior stays → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  The principal was made to apologize to the children. — was made to apologize is still passive, and it makes the principal the one who apologizes. In the original, the children apologize.
• (b)
  The principal had made the children apologize. — had made is past perfect, but the passive were made is simple past, so the active needs made. The option also drops for their behavior.
• (d)
  The principal was apologizing to the children for their behavior. — was apologizing makes the principal the one saying sorry, in the past continuous. The causative made, the core of the sentence, disappears.

Make meaning 'force or cause someone to do something' takes a bare infinitive in the active and a to-infinitive in the passive:

Active: The principal made the children apologize.
Passive: The children were made to apologize by the principal.

So the to appears in the passive and disappears in the active. The tense of be (were) sets the tense of the active verb (made).

Key facts

• Active causative: make + object + bare infinitive (made the children apologize).
• Passive causative: be made + to-infinitive (were made to apologize).
• A simple past passive (were made) becomes a simple past active (made).

Common traps

• Keeping to in the active — made the children to apologize is not standard English
• Choosing had made because it sounds formal — it shifts the tense to past perfect

No directly related past PYQ was found.