Understanding how to convert sentences from active voice to passive voice is a key skill in English grammar. This involves changing the focus of the sentence from the doer of the action (the subject in active voice) to the receiver of the action (the object in active voice, which becomes the subject in passive voice).

Let's analyse the given sentence: "The French had regarded the scholar as a usurper."

In this active voice sentence:

• The subject is "The French" (the doer of the action).
• The verb is "had regarded" (Past Perfect tense).
• The object is "the scholar" (the receiver of the action).
• "as a usurper" is a phrase describing the object.

To convert an active voice sentence in the Past Perfect tense to passive voice, we follow a specific structure:

Active Voice (Past Perfect): Subject + had + Past Participle of Verb + Object + ...

Passive Voice (Past Perfect): Object (becomes subject) + had + been + Past Participle of Verb + by + Subject (becomes object) + ...

Converting "Had Regarded" (Past Perfect) to Passive Voice

Applying this rule to the sentence "The French had regarded the scholar as a usurper":

1. Identify the object: "the scholar". This becomes the new subject.
2. Identify the verb tense: "had regarded" is Past Perfect.
3. Apply the passive structure for Past Perfect: "had been" + Past Participle of "regard" (which is "regarded"). So, the passive verb is "had been regarded".
4. Include the original subject ("The French") introduced by "by": "by the French".
5. Add the remaining part of the sentence: "as a usurper".

Combining these parts gives the passive voice sentence: "The scholar had been regarded as a usurper by the French."

Comparison of Tense Conversion: Active vs. Passive

Evaluating the Options for Passive Voice Conversion

Let's look at the given options and see which one correctly expresses the sentence in passive voice with the Past Perfect tense.

1. The scholar was being regarded as a usurper by the French.

   This uses the structure "was being regarded", which is the passive form for the Past Continuous tense. The original sentence is in Past Perfect, not Past Continuous. So, this option is incorrect.

2. The scholar has been regarded as a usurper by the French.

   This uses the structure "has been regarded", which is the passive form for the Present Perfect tense. The original sentence is in Past Perfect, not Present Perfect. So, this option is incorrect.

3. The scholar was regarded as a usurper by the French.

   This uses the structure "was regarded", which is the passive form for the Simple Past tense. The original sentence is in Past Perfect, not Simple Past. So, this option is incorrect.

4. The scholar had been regarded as a usurper by the French.

   This uses the structure "had been regarded", which is the passive form for the Past Perfect tense. This correctly matches the tense of the original active voice sentence ("had regarded"). The structure is correct for a passive voice sentence. So, this option is correct.

Therefore, the correct passive voice conversion of "The French had regarded the scholar as a usurper" is "The scholar had been regarded as a usurper by the French."

Revision Table: Active and Passive Voice Key Points

Additional Information on Passive Voice Conversion

When converting sentences to the passive voice, remember that typically only sentences with a transitive verb (a verb that takes an object) can be changed into passive voice. Intransitive verbs do not have an object and therefore cannot be converted.

In some passive sentences, the "by + agent" phrase (e.g., "by the French") can be omitted if the doer of the action is unimportant, unknown, or obvious from the context. However, in this specific question, including "by the French" was necessary for the given options.