Understanding Sentence Voice: Active vs. Passive

Sentence voice indicates whether the subject performs the action (active voice) or is acted upon (passive voice). The given sentence, "She is building a new house," is in the active voice because the subject, "She," is performing the action, "building."

Our task is to convert this active voice sentence into its passive voice equivalent. This means the object of the active sentence will become the subject of the passive sentence, and the original subject will often be mentioned using the preposition "by."

Converting Present Continuous Active to Passive Voice

The original sentence "She is building a new house" is in the present continuous tense. The structure for the present continuous tense in active voice is:

Subject + is/am/are + Verb (V1) + -ing + Object

To convert a present continuous active voice sentence into passive voice, we follow this structure:

Object + is/am/are + being + Verb (V3 - Past Participle) + by + Subject (as object pronoun)

Step-by-Step Transformation

Let's break down the given sentence:

• Subject: She
• Verb: is building (present continuous tense of 'build')
• Object: a new house

Now, let's apply the passive voice structure for the present continuous tense:

1. Identify the object of the active sentence: "a new house". This becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
2. Choose the correct form of 'to be' (is/am/are) based on the new subject: "a new house" is singular, so we use "is".
3. Add "being" after the 'to be' verb.
4. Use the past participle (V3) of the main verb 'build': The past participle of 'build' is "built".
5. Add "by" followed by the original subject transformed into an object pronoun: "She" becomes "her".

Putting it all together, the passive voice sentence is: "A new house is being built by her."

Analyzing the Options for Passive Voice

Let's examine each provided option to see which one correctly follows the passive voice structure for the present continuous tense:

1. A new house is being built by her.

   • Subject: A new house
   • Verb: is being built (is + being + V3 of build)
   • Agent: by her

   This option perfectly matches the structure of the passive voice for the present continuous tense.

2. She had built a new house.

   • Subject: She
   • Verb: had built (Past Perfect Active)
   • Object: a new house

   This is an active voice sentence in the past perfect tense. It is not the passive voice of the original sentence.

3. She has built a new house.

   • Subject: She
   • Verb: has built (Present Perfect Active)
   • Object: a new house

   This is an active voice sentence in the present perfect tense. It is not the passive voice of the original sentence.

4. A new house has been built by her.

   • Subject: A new house
   • Verb: has been built (Present Perfect Passive)
   • Agent: by her

   This is a passive voice sentence, but it is in the present perfect tense, not the present continuous tense. The helping verbs "is being" are characteristic of the present continuous passive, while "has been" is characteristic of the present perfect passive.

Based on the analysis, only option 1 correctly transforms the present continuous active sentence into the present continuous passive voice.

Revision Table: Active vs. Passive Voice Tense Transformations

Additional Information: Usage of Passive Voice

The passive voice is used when:

• The doer of the action (the subject in active voice) is unknown, unimportant, or obvious from the context.
• The focus is on the action itself or the object receiving the action, rather than the doer.
• You want to sound more formal or objective (common in scientific or academic writing).

In the passive voice structure, the preposition "by" is used to introduce the agent (the original subject) if it is necessary or relevant to mention who performed the action. If the agent is unknown or unimportant, the "by + agent" part is often omitted.

For example, "A new house is being built." (The focus is on the house and the ongoing action; who is building it is not specified or important).