Converting Active Voice to Passive Voice: Simple Present Tense

The question asks us to transform a sentence from active voice to passive voice. The original sentence is: "I use baking soda to remove stains from my clothes."

Understanding Active and Passive Voice

In the active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action. In the passive voice, the subject is acted upon. The action is performed by the object of the active sentence (or the doer of the action, often mentioned after 'by').

The given sentence "I use baking soda to remove stains from my clothes" is in the active voice. The subject 'I' performs the action 'use'.

Rules for Converting Simple Present Tense Active to Passive

The original sentence is in the Simple Present Tense (Subject + Base Verb + Object). The structure for converting a Simple Present Tense sentence from active to passive voice is:

Passive Structure: Object + is/am/are + Past Participle (V3) + by + Subject (optional) + remaining part of the sentence.

Let's break down the original sentence:

• Subject: I
• Verb: use (Simple Present Tense)
• Object: baking soda
• Remaining part: to remove stains from my clothes

Now, applying the passive voice rules:

1. The Object of the active sentence becomes the Subject of the passive sentence: Baking soda.
2. Use the correct form of 'be' (is/am/are) based on the new subject and the tense (Simple Present): 'Baking soda' is singular, so we use is.
3. Use the Past Participle (V3) of the main verb 'use': The past participle of 'use' is used.
4. Include 'by' followed by the original subject (optional but present in options): 'I' becomes by me.
5. Add the remaining part of the sentence: to remove stains from my clothes.

Putting it all together, the passive form is: Baking soda is used by me to remove stains from my clothes.

Analyzing the Options

Let's examine each provided option to see which one matches our derived passive sentence:

• Option 1: Baking soda is being used by me to remove stains from my clothes.

  This uses "is being used", which is the passive form for the Present Continuous Tense. The original sentence is in the Simple Present Tense, not Present Continuous. Therefore, this option is incorrect.

• Option 2: Baking soda is used by me to remove stains from my clothes.

  This uses "is used", which is the correct passive form for the Simple Present Tense (is/am/are + V3). This matches the structure we derived. Therefore, this option is correct.

• Option 3: I have been using baking soda to remove stains from my clothes.

  This sentence is still in the active voice ("I" is performing the action "have been using"). It is also in the Present Perfect Continuous Tense. Therefore, this option is incorrect.

• Option 4: Baking soda was used by me to remove stains from my clothes.

  This uses "was used", which is the passive form for the Simple Past Tense (was/were + V3). The original sentence is in the Simple Present Tense, not Simple Past Tense. Therefore, this option is incorrect.

Based on the analysis, Option 2 is the correct passive form of the given sentence.

Revision Table: Active vs. Passive Voice

Additional Information: Why Use Passive Voice?

While active voice is generally preferred for clarity and directness, passive voice is useful in certain situations:

• When the doer of the action is unknown, unimportant, or obvious from the context.
• When you want to emphasize the action itself or the receiver of the action rather than the doer.
• In scientific or technical writing, to maintain objectivity (though active voice is increasingly common even there).
• To avoid naming the doer when it might be sensitive or awkward.

In the context of the given sentence, "Baking soda is used..." emphasizes the baking soda and its purpose (removing stains) more than who is using it (me).