Understanding Active and Passive Voice Transformation

In English grammar, sentences can be expressed in either active voice or passive voice. The choice of voice affects how the subject and verb relate to the action.

• Active Voice: The subject performs the action. The structure is typically Subject + Verb + Object. For example, "The dog chased the ball." (The dog is the subject performing the action 'chased').
• Passive Voice: The subject receives the action. The structure is typically Object + be verb + Past Participle + (by + Subject). For example, "The ball was chased by the dog." (The ball is the subject receiving the action 'chased').

Analyzing the Given Sentence: "Authorities denied his simple request."

Let's break down the structure of the given sentence:

• Subject: Authorities (They are performing the action)
• Verb: denied (This is the past tense form of the verb 'deny')
• Object: his simple request (This is receiving the action)

The sentence is in the simple past tense active voice because the subject "Authorities" performed the action "denied" on the object "his simple request".

Rules for Converting Simple Past Active to Passive Voice

To convert a sentence from simple past active voice to passive voice, we follow a specific structure:

The structure is:

$\text{Object} + \text{was/were} + \text{Verb (Past Participle)} + (\text{by} + \text{Subject})$

Here:

• The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
• A form of the 'be' verb in the simple past tense ('was' for singular subjects, 'were' for plural subjects) is used.
• The main verb is changed to its past participle form.
• The subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the preposition 'by' (this part is often optional if the doer of the action is unknown, obvious, or unimportant, but it is included in the options here).

Step-by-Step Conversion of the Sentence "Authorities denied his simple request."

Let's apply the rules to the given sentence:

1. Identify the Object: The object is "his simple request". This will become the new subject.
2. Choose the correct 'be' verb form: The new subject "his simple request" is singular, so we use "was".
3. Find the Past Participle of the verb: The verb is "denied". Its past participle form is also "denied".
4. Add the 'by + Subject' phrase: The original subject is "Authorities", so we add "by authorities".

Putting it all together, the passive voice sentence is: "His simple request was denied by authorities."

Evaluating the Options for Passive Voice Transformation

Now, let's look at the provided options and see which one matches our correct passive voice structure for the simple past tense.

Option 1: His simple request has been denied by authorities.

This option uses "has been denied," which is the structure for the present perfect passive voice ($\text{Object} + \text{has/have been} + \text{Verb (Past Participle)} + (\text{by} + \text{Subject})$). This does not match the simple past tense of the original sentence.

Option 2: His simple request is denied by authorities.

This option uses "is denied," which is the structure for the simple present passive voice ($\text{Object} + \text{is/am/are} + \text{Verb (Past Participle)} + (\text{by} + \text{Subject})$). This does not match the simple past tense of the original sentence.

Option 3: His simple request had been denied by authorities.

This option uses "had been denied," which is the structure for the past perfect passive voice ($\text{Object} + \text{had been} + \text{Verb (Past Participle)} + (\text{by} + \text{Subject})$). This does not match the simple past tense of the original sentence.

Option 4: His simple request was denied by authorities.

This option uses "was denied," which is the structure for the simple past passive voice ($\text{Object} + \text{was/were} + \text{Verb (Past Participle)} + (\text{by} + \text{Subject})$). This exactly matches our derived passive voice sentence based on the simple past active original sentence.

Conclusion on Passive Voice Selection

Based on the transformation rules for simple past tense active to passive voice, the correct passive form of the sentence "Authorities denied his simple request" is "His simple request was denied by authorities."

Revision Table: Active vs. Passive Voice Tenses

Additional Information on Voice Change

Here are a few more points about changing voice:

• Only transitive verbs (verbs that take an object) can be changed into the passive voice. Intransitive verbs (like 'run', 'sleep', 'go') cannot have a passive voice because they do not have an object to become the new subject.
• The passive voice is often used when the action is more important than the doer of the action, or when the doer is unknown or irrelevant.
• While technically possible, changing verbs in perfect continuous and future continuous tenses to passive voice is uncommon and often sounds awkward.