Understanding Active and Passive Voice

This question asks us to convert a sentence from active voice to passive voice. Understanding the difference between active and passive voice is key to solving this.

• Active Voice: The subject performs the action. The focus is on the doer of the action. Structure: Subject + Verb + Object.
• Passive Voice: The action is performed on the subject. The focus is on the action and the receiver of the action. Structure: Object + Verb (usually 'be' + past participle) + by + Subject (optional).

The given sentence is: "He has not committed the crime."

Let's break down the active sentence:

• Subject: He
• Verb: has committed (Present Perfect Tense)
• Object: the crime
• Negation: not

Converting Present Perfect Active to Passive Voice

The general rule for converting a Present Perfect tense sentence from active to passive voice is:

Active: Subject + has/have + Past Participle + Object

Passive: Object + has/have + been + Past Participle + by + Subject (optional)

For our sentence, "He has not committed the crime," which includes negation, the passive structure becomes:

Passive (with negation): Object + has/have + not + been + Past Participle + by + Subject

Let's apply this rule to the given sentence:

1. Identify the object of the active sentence: "the crime". This becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
2. Determine the correct form of 'has/have' for the new subject "the crime". Since "the crime" is singular, we use "has".
3. Add the negation "not".
4. Add "been".
5. Use the past participle of the main verb 'committed': "committed".
6. Add "by" followed by the object form of the original subject 'He', which is 'him'.

Putting it together, the passive voice sentence is: "The crime has not been committed by him."

Analyzing the Options for Passive Voice Conversion

Let's examine each option provided to see which one correctly follows the rules for converting Present Perfect Active to Passive voice.

• Option 1: The crime was not committed by him.

  This uses "was not committed," which is the passive form of the Simple Past tense (e.g., "He did not commit the crime" → "The crime was not committed by him"). The original sentence is in Present Perfect tense, so this is incorrect.

• Option 2: The crime have not being committed by him.

  This option uses "have not being committed." First, the auxiliary verb for "The crime" (singular) should be "has," not "have." Second, the structure "being committed" is typically used in continuous tenses (e.g., Present Continuous Passive: "is being committed"). The correct structure for Present Perfect Passive is "has/have been committed." This option is incorrect.

• Option 3: The crime have not been committed by him.

  This option uses "have not been committed." Similar to Option 2, the auxiliary verb for "The crime" (singular) should be "has," not "have." The structure "been committed" is correct for Present Perfect Passive, but the wrong auxiliary makes this option incorrect.

• Option 4: The crime has not been committed by him.

  This option uses "has not been committed." The auxiliary verb "has" is correct for "The crime" (singular). The structure "has not been committed" is the correct passive form for the Present Perfect tense with negation. The phrase "by him" correctly identifies the original doer of the action. This option correctly converts the active sentence to passive voice.

Based on the analysis, Option 4 is the correct passive voice transformation of the sentence "He has not committed the crime."

Revision Table: Active vs. Passive Voice

Additional Information: Why Use Passive Voice?

While active voice is generally preferred for clarity and directness, passive voice is useful in certain situations:

• When the doer of the action is unknown or unimportant: "The window was broken." (It doesn't matter who broke it).
• When you want to emphasize the action or the object receiving the action: "The research paper was completed ahead of schedule." (Emphasis on the paper and its completion).
• In formal or scientific writing: Often used to maintain objectivity by not focusing on the researcher (the "doer"). "The samples were heated to 100°C."
• To avoid mentioning the doer: When the doer is obvious from the context or is being intentionally omitted.

Remember that the tense of the verb must remain the same when converting from active to passive voice, though the form of the verb changes to include a form of 'be' and the past participle.