SSC CGL 2025 Tier-II · Paper-I, 19 January 2026 · English Language and Comprehension · Question 2 of 150

We transcribed this text from the pictures of a candidate's response sheet for this paper; the answer is the key SSC marked with a green tick on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 11 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. This paper reaches us as a candidate's response sheet saved as pictures, so we transcribed the text from those pictures, and a second reader checked every question against them; where the layout carries meaning, we show the picture too. Each answer is the key SSC marked with a green tick on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. UnlockIAS wrote the solutions.

Select the correct active form of the given sentence. The massive exterior wall of the old mansion was being painted by the skilled laborers when it suddenly started raining heavily.

(a)The skilled laborers had been painting the massive exterior wall of the old mansion when it suddenly started raining heavily.
(b)The skilled laborers are painting the massive exterior wall of the old mansion when it suddenly started raining heavily.
(c)The skilled laborers were painting the massive exterior wall of the old mansion when it suddenly started raining heavily.
(d)The skilled laborers painted the massive exterior wall of the old mansion when it suddenly started raining heavily.

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The verb was being painted is the past continuous passive: was/were + being + past participle.

Its active form is the past continuous, were painting. The doer, the skilled laborers, becomes the subject, and were agrees with that plural subject.

The when-clause (it suddenly started raining heavily) is not part of the change and keeps its words. That gives option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
The skilled laborers had been painting the massive exterior wall of the old mansion when it suddenly started raining heavily. — had been painting is the past perfect continuous. It changes the tense as well as the voice, and a voice change must keep the tense of was being painted.
(b)
The skilled laborers are painting the massive exterior wall of the old mansion when it suddenly started raining heavily. — are painting is present continuous, but the passive verb was past (was being painted). It also clashes with started in the same sentence.
(d)
The skilled laborers painted the massive exterior wall of the old mansion when it suddenly started raining heavily. — painted is the simple past, the active of was painted. The given verb has being, which marks an action in progress, and that must survive as were painting.

Concept

A voice change swaps the roles of doer and receiver and keeps the tense.

Past continuous passive: was/were + being + past participle (was being painted).
Past continuous active: was/were + -ing form (were painting).

So drop the by-phrase, make the laborers the subject, and put the verb back into the -ing form with an auxiliary that agrees: laborers → were.

Key facts

Past continuous passive: was/were being + past participle (was being painted).
Past continuous active: was/were + -ing form (were painting).
In the active sentence the auxiliary agrees with the new subject: the wall was, the laborers were.

Study next

Active form of passive questions: Why was it written? → Why did he write it?Passive of the present continuous: is/are being + past participleContinuous and simple past together: was typing when the phone rang

Common traps

Dropping the continuous aspect: was being painted becomes were painting, not painted.
Keeping was from the passive once the plural laborers are the subject.

At 11 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.15 the same tense goes back to active: The letter was being typed by the secretary when the phone rang becomes The secretary was typing the letter when the phone rang.

This paper turns a passive question into active at 19 Jan 2026, 11:00 AM, English Q.21 (Why did your brother write such a letter?).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Active and passive voice — all 95 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.