Understanding Active and Passive Voice Conversion

The question asks us to convert a sentence from active voice to passive voice. The original sentence is: "Rajeshwari helped her mother to bake a cake."

In this active voice sentence:

• The subject is "Rajeshwari" (the one performing the action).
• The verb is "helped" (past tense of 'help').
• The object is "her mother" (the one receiving the action).
• "to bake a cake" is an infinitive phrase indicating the purpose or context of the action.

To convert a sentence from active voice to passive voice, the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. The verb form changes, and the original subject is often introduced using "by".

Converting Simple Past Tense to Passive Voice

The sentence "Rajeshwari helped her mother to bake a cake" is in the Simple Past Tense. The rule for converting Simple Past Active voice to Passive voice is:

Active Voice: Subject + Past Tense Verb + Object

Passive Voice: Object + was/were + Past Participle of the Verb + (by + Subject)

Step-by-Step Conversion

Let's apply this rule to the given sentence:

1. Identify the object: The object is "her mother". This will become the new subject.
2. Choose the correct form of 'to be' in the past tense for the new subject: "Her mother" is singular, so we use "was".
3. Use the past participle of the main verb: The verb is "helped". The past participle of 'help' is "helped".
4. Add "by" and the original subject: Add "by Rajeshwari".
5. Include the remaining part of the sentence: The infinitive phrase "to bake a cake" remains.

Combining these parts, we get: "Her mother was helped by Rajeshwari to bake a cake."

Analyzing the Options for Passive Voice

Let's look at the provided options:

1. Her mother was helped by Rajeshwari to bake a cake.

   This option follows the structure: Object (Her mother) + was + Past Participle (helped) + by + Subject (Rajeshwari) + remaining part (to bake a cake). This matches our derived passive sentence.

2. Her mother is helping by Rajeshwari to bake a cake.

   This option uses "is helping", which is Present Continuous tense in active voice. It also includes "by Rajeshwari", which is incorrect for this verb form and tense.

3. Her mother has helped Rajeshwari to bake a cake.

   This option is in the Present Perfect Tense and is in the active voice. It also swaps the roles of Rajeshwari and her mother compared to the original sentence.

4. Her mother had helped by Rajeshwari to bake a cake.

   This option uses "had helped", which is Past Perfect Tense. While it uses "by Rajeshwari", the verb form "had helped" is not the correct passive structure (which would be "had been helped").

Based on the analysis, only the first option correctly represents the passive voice conversion of the given sentence in the Simple Past Tense.

Revision Table: Active vs. Passive Voice

Additional Information on Passive Voice

The passive voice is often used when:

• The doer of the action is unknown or unimportant.
• We want to emphasize the action itself rather than the doer.
• Reporting facts or processes (common in scientific writing).

While the passive voice is grammatically correct, overuse can sometimes make writing sound awkward or unclear. However, it is essential for certain contexts and transformations like the one in this question.

The infinitive phrase "to bake a cake" functions similarly in both the active and passive versions of this sentence, often describing the purpose or result related to the main action (helping).