Understanding Active and Passive Voice Transformation

The question asks us to convert a sentence from active voice to passive voice. The given sentence is an interrogative sentence (a question) starting with 'Who'.

The original sentence in active voice is:

\(\text{Who wrote the Ramayana?}\)

In this sentence:

• 'Who' is the subject (performing the action).
• 'wrote' is the verb (past tense).
• 'the Ramayana' is the object (receiving the action).

Converting Interrogative Sentences (Starting with 'Who') to Passive Voice

When converting an interrogative sentence that begins with 'Who' from active to passive voice, the structure changes as follows:

1. The subject 'Who' changes to 'By whom' in the passive voice, as 'Who' is the agent performing the action.
2. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
3. The verb is changed to the passive form, which is generally 'be' + past participle of the main verb. The form of 'be' depends on the tense of the active verb and the new subject.
4. The sentence remains interrogative.

The general structure for a simple past tense sentence starting with 'Who' in passive voice is:

\(\text{By whom} + \text{was/were} + \text{new subject} + \text{past participle of verb} + \text{?}\)

Applying the Conversion to the Given Sentence

Let's apply the rules to the sentence "Who wrote the Ramayana?".

1. 'Who' becomes 'By whom'.
2. The object 'the Ramayana' becomes the new subject.
3. The verb 'wrote' is in the simple past tense. The new subject 'the Ramayana' is singular. The passive form for simple past singular is 'was written'.

Putting it together in the interrogative structure:

\(\text{By whom} + \text{was} + \text{the Ramayana} + \text{written?}\)

This gives us the passive voice sentence: "By whom was the Ramayana written?".

Analyzing the Options

Let's examine the given options:

• Option 1: By whom was the Ramayana written? This exactly matches the passive voice sentence we derived.
• Option 2: By whom was that who wrote the Ramayana? This structure is grammatically incorrect and does not follow the standard rules for active-passive conversion.
• Option 3: Who was that who wrote the Ramayana? This sentence is still in an active voice structure and is essentially a rephrasing of the original question, not a conversion to passive voice.
• Option 4: By who was the Ramayana written? While sometimes used informally, the grammatically correct form when 'who' is the object of the preposition 'by' is 'whom'. Therefore, 'By whom' is preferred in standard English grammar.

Based on the analysis, Option 1 correctly expresses the given sentence in passive voice according to standard English grammar rules.

Correct Passive Voice Transformation

The correct passive voice conversion of "Who wrote the Ramayana?" is "By whom was the Ramayana written?". This follows the grammatical rules for transforming 'Who' questions in the simple past tense to passive voice.

Revision Table: Active and Passive Voice Rules

Understanding active and passive voice conversions is crucial for effective communication. Here's a quick summary:

Additional Information: Voice in English Grammar

Voice is a grammatical category that indicates the relationship of the subject of a verb to the action that the verb expresses. There are two main voices in English:

• Active Voice: In the active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action. This voice is generally more direct and vigorous. Example: The dog chased the ball. (Subject 'dog' performs the action 'chased').
• Passive Voice: In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence receives the action. The doer of the action is often mentioned after 'by' or is omitted if it is unknown, unimportant, or obvious. Example: The ball was chased by the dog. (Subject 'ball' receives the action 'was chased').

Choosing between active and passive voice depends on what you want to emphasize in the sentence. Use the active voice when you want to highlight who or what is doing the action. Use the passive voice when you want to highlight the action itself or the recipient of the action, or when the doer is unknown.