Active to Passive Voice Transformation Explained

This guide details the process of changing a sentence from the active voice to the passive voice, using the provided example.

Original Active Sentence

The sentence we need to transform is: They made him prince.

This sentence is in the simple past tense.

Understanding Passive Voice Transformation

To change a sentence from active to passive voice, we follow specific grammatical rules:

• The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
• The main verb in the active sentence is changed to its past participle form.
• An appropriate form of the auxiliary verb 'to be' (matching the original tense and the new subject) is placed before the past participle.
• The subject of the active sentence becomes the agent in the passive sentence, usually introduced by the preposition 'by'. This 'by' phrase is optional.

Step-by-Step Conversion

Let's convert "They made him prince." step-by-step:

1. Identify Sentence Parts:
   • Subject: They
   • Verb: made (Simple Past Tense)
   • Object: him
   • Object Complement: prince
2. Convert Object to Subject:

   The object him changes to the subject form He.

3. Change the Verb:

   The active verb is made (past tense of 'make'). To make it passive:

   • Find the past participle of 'make', which is made.
   • Use the past tense form of 'to be' that agrees with the new subject 'He'. The correct form is was.
   • Combine them: was made.
4. Add the Object Complement:

   The object complement prince follows the verb. It's common to add an article like 'a' before a singular countable noun complement, so it becomes a prince.

5. Include the Agent (Optional):

   The original subject They becomes the agent, introduced by 'by'. This would be by them. However, it is often omitted in passive constructions.

Putting it all together, the passive sentence is: He was made a prince.

Analyzing the Given Options

Let's review the provided options based on our understanding:

• Option 1: They will make him prince. This sentence is in the future tense and remains in the active voice. It is not a passive transformation of the original past tense sentence.
• Option 2: He was made a prince. This option correctly transforms the original sentence into the simple past tense passive voice. The object 'him' becomes the subject 'He', the verb 'made' becomes 'was made', and the complement 'prince' becomes 'a prince'.
• Option 3: He will be made prince. This sentence is in the future tense passive voice. The original sentence was in the past tense, making this option incorrect.
• Option 4: They will elect him prince This option uses a different verb ('elect') and is in the future tense active voice. It is not related to the transformation of the original sentence.

Final Answer Confirmation

The correct transformation of the active voice sentence "They made him prince" into the passive voice is accurately represented by the option He was made a prince.