Understanding Active and Passive Voice Transformation

This question asks us to identify the active form of a given passive sentence. Transforming sentences between active and passive voice is a fundamental skill in English grammar. The key is to identify the subject (the doer of the action) in the passive voice and make it the main subject in the active voice.

The original sentence is:

It was decided by the members that the report would be placed before the Chairman for his comments.

This sentence is in the passive voice. We know this because the action "was decided" is performed by "the members," who are introduced by the word "by." In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence often receives the action or is a placeholder like "It," while the actual doer is mentioned later or omitted.

Converting Passive to Active Voice

To convert a sentence from passive to active voice:

1. Identify the subject of the passive sentence (often introduced by 'by'). This will become the subject of the active sentence. In our sentence, the doer is "the members."
2. Identify the verb in the passive sentence ("was decided"). Convert it to its active form.
3. Identify the object or the result of the action in the passive sentence. This might become part of the predicate in the active sentence. In our sentence, what was decided was "that the report would be placed before the Chairman for his comments."
4. Rearrange the sentence structure so the subject performs the action directly.

Analyzing the Options

Let's examine each option to see which one correctly transforms the original passive sentence into an active one while retaining the original meaning.

• Option 1: The members decided to place the report before the Chairman for his comments.
  • The subject is "The members," which is the doer of the action in the original sentence.
  • The verb is "decided," which is the active form of "was decided."
  • The rest of the sentence, "to place the report before the Chairman for his comments," clearly states what the members decided.
  • This sentence structure is active (Subject > Verb > Object/Complement).
  • The meaning is the same as the original passive sentence.
• Option 2: The Chairman decided to place the report before the members.
  • The subject is "The Chairman." However, the original sentence states the decision was made by the members, not the Chairman.
  • This option changes the doer of the action and therefore the meaning of the sentence.
• Option 3: Did the members decide to place the report before the Chairman?
  • This sentence is a question (interrogative), not a statement (declarative). The original sentence is a statement.
  • While it uses "the members" as the subject and "decide" as the verb, its structure and purpose are different.
• Option 4: The Chairman's comments were to be placed on the report of the members.
  • This option completely changes the subject and the main action of the sentence. The original sentence is about the members deciding to place the report. This option is about comments being placed.
  • It also contains a passive structure ("were to be placed").

Based on the analysis, Option 1 is the only sentence that correctly converts the original passive sentence to the active voice by making "the members" the subject and retaining the original meaning.

Revision Table: Active vs. Passive Voice

Additional Information: Sentence Transformation

Sentence transformation involves changing the structure of a sentence without altering its core meaning. This can include changing the voice (active/passive), changing sentence types (simple, compound, complex), or converting between direct and indirect speech. Mastering sentence transformation helps in writing varied and fluent English.

When transforming voice, always identify:

• The action (verb).
• Who performed the action (subject in active, often 'by' phrase in passive).
• Who or what received the action (object in active, subject in passive).

For the structure "It is decided that...", the active transformation often becomes "[The people deciding] decide that..." or "[The people deciding] decide to [action mentioned in 'that' clause]". In our case, "It was decided by the members that the report would be placed..." transforms neatly to "The members decided to place the report...".