Understanding Active and Passive Voice in English Grammar

The question asks to convert a sentence from passive voice to active voice. To do this, we need to understand the difference between active and passive voice and how to transform sentences.

In the active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action. The structure is typically: Subject + Verb + Object.

In the passive voice, the subject receives the action. The structure is typically: Object + be + Past Participle + (optional) by Subject (Agent).

The given sentence is: "What information was shared with the school authority by the inspection team?"

Let's break down the passive sentence:

• Object (becomes subject in passive): What information
• Passive Verb: was shared (simple past passive of 'share')
• Agent (original subject): the inspection team
• Other phrases: with the school authority

The sentence is a Wh- question in the simple past passive tense. To convert it to active voice, the agent ("the inspection team") becomes the subject, and the passive verb ("was shared") is changed to the corresponding active verb in the simple past tense ("shared"). The object ("What information") remains the focus of the question.

Converting Simple Past Passive Questions to Active Voice

A Wh- question in simple past passive follows the structure:

What/Who/Where/When + helping verb (was/were) + object + past participle + (by agent)?

To convert this to simple past active, the structure for a Wh- question about the object is typically:

What + helping verb (did) + subject + base form of verb + object/other phrases?

Applying this to our sentence:

• Wh- word: What
• Helping verb for simple past active questions: did
• Subject (agent from passive): the inspection team
• Base form of the verb 'shared': share
• Other phrases: with the school authority

Putting it together, the active voice sentence should be: "What information did the inspection team share with the school authority?"

Analyzing the Options for Active Voice Conversion

Let's examine each provided option to find the correct active voice transformation:

Option 1: What information has the inspection team shared with the school authority?

This sentence uses the present perfect active tense ("has shared"), not the simple past tense required to match the original passive sentence's tense ("was shared"). Therefore, this option is incorrect.

Option 2: What information did the inspection team share by the school authority?

This sentence is in the simple past active tense structure ("did share"), but it changes the phrase "with the school authority" to "by the school authority". This alters the meaning of the sentence, suggesting the inspection team shared *by means of* the school authority, rather than sharing *with* the school authority. Therefore, this option is incorrect.

Option 3: What information did the inspection team share with the school authority?

This sentence correctly uses the simple past active tense structure for a Wh- question ("did share"). The subject is "the inspection team", the verb is "share", and the phrase "with the school authority" is retained, preserving the original meaning. This matches our derived active sentence. Therefore, this option is correct.

Option 4: What information the inspection team shared with the school authority?

This sentence lacks the necessary helping verb 'did' for a direct question in the simple past active tense. It is grammatically incorrect as a question. Therefore, this option is incorrect.

Based on the analysis, Option 3 is the correct active voice conversion of the given passive voice sentence.

Revision Table: Active vs. Passive Voice

Additional Information on Voice Transformation

Understanding voice transformation is crucial for varying sentence structure and emphasizing different parts of a sentence. While active voice is generally preferred for clarity and directness, passive voice is useful when:

• The doer of the action is unknown or unimportant.
• The action itself is more important than the doer.
• You want to avoid mentioning the doer.
• You want to create a more formal or objective tone.

The tense of the verb is maintained during the conversion from passive to active voice (and vice versa). For example, a simple past passive sentence converts to a simple past active sentence. A present perfect passive converts to a present perfect active, and so on.