Understanding Active and Passive Voice

Sentence voice indicates whether the subject of the sentence performs the action (active voice) or is acted upon (passive voice). In an active voice sentence, the subject is the doer of the action. In a passive voice sentence, the subject is the receiver of the action.

Let's look at the given sentence:

I laughed at the clown.

In this sentence:

• The subject is "I".
• The verb phrase is "laughed at".
• The object is "the clown".

Here, the subject "I" is performing the action of "laughing at the clown". Therefore, this sentence is in the active voice.

Converting Simple Past Active to Passive Voice

The given sentence "I laughed at the clown" is in the simple past tense. The structure for converting a simple past tense active voice sentence to passive voice is:

\( \text{Object of active sentence} + \text{was/were} + \text{Past Participle of main verb} + \text{by} + \text{Subject of active sentence (in object form)} \)

Let's apply this structure to the sentence "I laughed at the clown".

1. Identify the object of the active sentence: "the clown". This becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
2. Identify the verb and its tense: "laughed at" is in the simple past tense. The main verb is "laugh". The past participle of "laugh" is "laughed". The preposition "at" is part of the phrasal verb and must be kept.
3. Choose the correct form of 'to be' for the simple past tense, agreeing with the new subject ("the clown"). Since "the clown" is singular, we use "was".
4. Combine the form of 'to be' with the past participle of the verb (including the preposition): "was laughed at".
5. Add "by" followed by the object form of the original subject ("I"). The object form of "I" is "me".

Putting it all together, the passive voice sentence is: The clown was laughed at by me.

Analyzing the Given Options

Let's evaluate each option based on the correct structure for passive voice in the simple past tense:

1. The clown was laughed at by me.

   This option follows the structure: Object ("the clown") + was + Past Participle ("laughed") + preposition ("at") + by + Object form of Subject ("me"). This matches our derived passive sentence.

2. The clown was being laughed by me.

   This option uses "was being laughed", which is the structure for the past continuous passive voice (\( \text{was/were being} + \text{Past Participle} \)). The original sentence is in the simple past, not past continuous. Also, the essential preposition "at" is missing from the verb phrase.

3. The clown is being laughed at by me.

   This option uses "is being laughed at", which is the structure for the present continuous passive voice (\( \text{is/am/are being} + \text{Past Participle} \)). The original sentence is in the simple past tense, not present continuous.

4. The clown is laughed by me.

   This option uses "is laughed", which is the structure for the simple present passive voice (\( \text{is/am/are} + \text{Past Participle} \)). The original sentence is in the simple past tense, not simple present. Also, the essential preposition "at" is missing from the verb phrase.

Based on the analysis, only option 1 correctly transforms the given simple past active sentence into simple past passive voice, correctly including the preposition that is part of the phrasal verb "laughed at".

Revision Table: Active vs. Passive Voice Conversion

Additional Information: Phrasal Verbs in Passive Voice

When a sentence contains a phrasal verb (a verb combined with a preposition or adverb, like "laughed at", "looked after", "put off"), the preposition or adverb usually stays with the verb in the passive voice. It is treated as part of the verb unit.

For example:

• Active: She looked after the children. (looked after is a phrasal verb)
• Passive: The children were looked after by her. (The preposition 'after' stays with 'looked')
• Active: They called off the meeting. (called off is a phrasal verb)
• Passive: The meeting was called off by them. (The adverb 'off' stays with 'called')

In our question, "laughed at" is a phrasal verb, so the "at" must be included in the passive form "was laughed at". Omitting it, as in options 2 and 4, makes the sentence grammatically incorrect in this context.