Understanding Active and Passive Voice Conversion

The question asks us to select the correct active form of the sentence: "They were refused entry in Delhi by the police."

To convert a sentence from passive voice to active voice, we need to identify the key components:

1. The subject of the passive sentence.
2. The verb in the passive sentence, and its tense.
3. The agent performing the action (usually found in a 'by' phrase).

Let's break down the given passive sentence:

"They were refused entry in Delhi by the police."

• Subject (passive): They
• Verb (passive): were refused. This form (was/were + past participle) indicates the Past Simple Passive tense.
• Agent: the police (this is who performed the action).
• Object/Complement (in passive structure): entry in Delhi.

Now, let's convert it to active voice:

1. The agent in the passive sentence becomes the subject in the active sentence. So, the subject is "The police".
2. The verb in the active sentence will be the active form of the passive verb, in the same tense. The passive verb "were refused" is Past Simple Passive. The active verb will be the Past Simple Active form of 'refuse', which is "refused".
3. The subject of the passive sentence ("They") becomes the object of the active sentence. The objective pronoun for 'they' is 'them'.
4. The remaining part of the sentence ("entry in Delhi") stays the same.

Putting these parts together, the active sentence is: "The police refused them entry in Delhi."

Analyzing the Options

Let's compare our constructed active sentence with the given options:

• Option 1: "The police had refused them entry in Delhi." This uses the Past Perfect tense (had + refused), which is incorrect.
• Option 2: "The police refused them entry in Delhi." This uses the Past Simple tense (refused), which matches our analysis.
• Option 3: "The police can refuse them entry in Delhi." This uses the modal verb 'can', which changes the meaning and tense. Incorrect.
• Option 4: "The police have refused them entry in Delhi." This uses the Present Perfect tense (have + refused), which is incorrect.

Therefore, Option 2 is the correct active form of the given sentence.

Step-by-Step Conversion Summary

1. Identify the agent ("by the police") → Subject (active): The police.
2. Identify the passive verb ("were refused") and its tense (Past Simple Passive) → Active verb (Past Simple): refused.
3. Identify the passive subject ("They") → Object (active): them.
4. Combine the elements: Subject + Verb + Object + Rest of sentence.
5. Result: The police refused them entry in Delhi.

The active voice sentence clearly shows that 'The police' performed the action of 'refusing' on 'them'.

Revision Table: Active vs. Passive Voice

Additional Information: Verb Tenses and Voice

Understanding verb tenses is crucial for correct voice conversion. The tense remains the same when converting between active and passive voice.

• Simple Present: Active: Subject + Verb(s). Passive: Subject + am/is/are + Past Participle. (e.g., Police refuse them entry. → They are refused entry by police.)
• Simple Past: Active: Subject + Verb(ed/irregular). Passive: Subject + was/were + Past Participle. (e.g., Police refused them entry. → They were refused entry by police.)
• Simple Future: Active: Subject + will + Verb. Passive: Subject + will be + Past Participle. (e.g., Police will refuse them entry. → They will be refused entry by police.)
• Present Perfect: Active: Subject + has/have + Past Participle. Passive: Subject + has/have been + Past Participle. (e.g., Police have refused them entry. → They have been refused entry by police.)
• Past Perfect: Active: Subject + had + Past Participle. Passive: Subject + had been + Past Participle. (e.g., Police had refused them entry. → They had been refused entry by police.)

Always identify the tense first, then apply the correct structure for the desired voice.