Active Voice Transformation Explained

This question requires changing a sentence from the passive voice to the active voice. We need to identify the performer of the action and restructure the sentence accordingly.

Understanding Active vs. Passive Voice

Passive Voice focuses on the object receiving the action. The structure is typically: [Object] + [Form of 'to be'] + [Past Participle] + [by Agent].

Active Voice focuses on the subject performing the action. The structure is typically: [Subject/Agent] + [Active Verb] + [Object].

Analyzing the Passive Sentence

The sentence provided is: "The bill was passed in the parliament."

• Subject (Receiving action): The bill
• Verb (Passive): was passed (This is the Past Simple Passive form)
• Agent (Performing action): The agent is not explicitly stated with 'by' but is implied by the prepositional phrase "in the parliament". The entity that performed the action of passing the bill is the parliament.

Steps for Active Voice Conversion

To convert this passive sentence to active voice:

1. Identify the agent performing the action: The agent is "the parliament".
2. Make the agent the subject of the active sentence.
3. Convert the passive verb ("was passed") to its corresponding active form. Since "was passed" is Past Simple Passive, the active form is the Past Simple of "pass", which is "passed".
4. Make the subject of the passive sentence ("The bill") the object of the active sentence.

Following these steps, we get: "The parliament" (Subject) + "passed" (Active Verb) + "the bill" (Object).

The active voice sentence is: The parliament passed the bill.

Evaluating the Given Options

• Option 1: "The parliament passed the bill." - This matches our derived active voice sentence perfectly.
• Option 2: "The members of the parliament passed the bill in the parliament. " - This option is redundant, repeating "in the parliament". It also adds "The members of", which is an assumption not directly derivable from the original passive sentence.
• Option 3: "The bill has passed in the parliament." - This sentence uses "has passed", changing the tense to Present Perfect, and it remains unclear if it's active or passive without a clear subject performing the action.
• Option 4: "They have passed the bill in the parliament." - This uses the vague pronoun "They" as the subject and changes the tense to Present Perfect, which is not a direct conversion from the original Past Simple Passive.

Final Answer Determination

Option 1 is the correct active voice transformation because it correctly identifies the agent, uses the appropriate active verb form and tense, and makes the original subject the object, resulting in a clear and concise sentence.