Directions: Select the correct passive form of the given sentence.They are providing shelter to the homeless.

Question

Prepp Team · Accepted Answer

Understanding Passive Voice Conversion

This question asks us to find the correct passive form of the sentence, "They are providing shelter to the homeless." To do this, we need to understand how to convert an active sentence, particularly one in the Present Continuous tense, into its passive equivalent.

What is Passive Voice?

In active voice, the subject performs the action. In passive voice, the subject receives the action. The focus shifts from the doer of the action to the action itself or the receiver of the action.

The basic structure for passive voice is: Subject + form of 'to be' + past participle of the main verb + (by + doer).

Converting Present Continuous Active to Passive

The active sentence "They are providing shelter to the homeless" is in the Present Continuous tense. The structure for Present Continuous active is: Subject + am/is/are + verb-ing + Object.

When converting a Present Continuous active sentence to passive voice, the structure becomes: New Subject (original object) + am/is/are + being + past participle of the main verb + (by + original subject).

Let's break down the given sentence:

Active Subject: They
Verb: are providing (Present Continuous)
Object: shelter (being provided) / to the homeless (receiver)

In passive voice, the object or the receiver often becomes the new subject. Looking at the options, "The homeless" is used as the subject in all of them. So, "The homeless" is our new subject.

Now, let's apply the Present Continuous passive structure:

New Subject: The homeless
Form of 'to be' (matching new subject 'The homeless' which is plural) + being: are being
Past participle of the main verb ('providing'): provided

Putting it together, the core passive structure is "The homeless are being provided". The remaining part is "shelter".

So, the passive sentence is: "The homeless are being provided shelter." (The 'by them' part is usually omitted when the doer is general or unknown, as is the case here and in the options).

Analyzing the Options

Let's examine each provided option against the correct passive structure for the Present Continuous tense.

Option	Sentence	Analysis
1	The homeless are been provided shelter.	Incorrect. The structure "are been" is grammatically wrong for Present Continuous passive. "Been" is used with perfect tenses (e.g., have been, had been).
2	The homeless will be provided shelter.	Incorrect. This is the passive form of the Future Simple tense ("will be provided"). The original sentence is in the Present Continuous tense.
3	The homeless are being provided shelter.	Correct. This sentence follows the structure for Present Continuous passive voice: Subject ("The homeless") + are + being + past participle ("provided") + rest of the sentence ("shelter").
4	The homeless have been provided shelter.	Incorrect. This is the passive form of the Present Perfect tense ("have been provided"). The original sentence is in the Present Continuous tense.

Based on the analysis, Option 3 correctly converts the active sentence "They are providing shelter to the homeless" into the passive voice while maintaining the Present Continuous tense.

Revision Table: Passive Voice Tense Forms

Tense	Active Voice Structure	Passive Voice Structure	Example (Active -> Passive)
Simple Present	Subject + verb(s)/verb + Object	Object + am/is/are + past participle	He writes a letter. -> A letter is written by him.
Present Continuous	Subject + am/is/are + verb-ing + Object	Object + am/is/are + being + past participle	They are providing shelter. -> Shelter is being provided by them.
Simple Past	Subject + verb-ed/V2 + Object	Object + was/were + past participle	She ate the apple. -> The apple was eaten by her.
Future Simple	Subject + will + verb + Object	Object + will be + past participle	He will finish the work. -> The work will be finished by him.

Additional Information: Subject Choice in Passive Voice

Sometimes, a sentence has both a direct object and an indirect object. For example, in "They are providing shelter to the homeless," 'shelter' is the direct object (what is being provided) and 'the homeless' is the indirect object (to whom it is being provided). In such cases, either object can often become the subject of the passive sentence.

If we had made "shelter" the subject, the passive sentence would be "Shelter is being provided to the homeless (by them)."

However, in multiple-choice questions like this, you should look at the options provided to see which element from the active sentence has been chosen as the subject for the passive voice and proceed with the conversion based on that choice.