Active to Passive Conversion Exercises PDFSet 3: Phrasal Verbs & Non-Passivizable Sentences
20 questions·12 min·Answers included·Explanations included
Preview: Questions
Fill in the blank with the correct option.
1.Active: "A babysitter looks after the children every evening." Choose the correct passive:
a) The children are looked by a babysitter every evening.b) The children are looked after by a babysitter every evening.c) The children are after looked by a babysitter every evening.d) The children look after by a babysitter every evening.
2.Active: "The accident happened at midnight." Can this sentence be made passive?
a) Yes — "At midnight was happened the accident."b) Yes — "The accident was happened at midnight."c) Yes — "It was happened at midnight."d) No — 'happen' is intransitive and has no object, so it cannot be made passive.
3.Active: "The whole class laughed at the clown." Choose the correct passive:
a) The clown was laughed at by the whole class.b) The clown was laughed by the whole class.c) The clown was at laughed by the whole class.d) The clown laughed at by the whole class.
4.Active: "Her grandparents brought her up in the countryside." Choose the correct passive:
a) She was brought by her grandparents up in the countryside.b) She was up brought by her grandparents in the countryside.c) She was brought up by her grandparents in the countryside.d) She brought up by her grandparents in the countryside.
5.Active: "The baby slept for twelve hours." Can this sentence be made passive?
a) No — 'sleep' is intransitive and has no object, so it cannot be made passive.b) Yes — "Twelve hours were slept by the baby."c) Yes — "It was slept for twelve hours by the baby."d) Yes — "For twelve hours was slept by the baby."
... and 15 more questions in the PDF
Preview: Answers
1.The children are looked after by a babysitter every evening.
2.No — 'happen' is intransitive and has no object, so it cannot be made passive.
3.The clown was laughed at by the whole class.
4.She was brought up by her grandparents in the countryside.
5.No — 'sleep' is intransitive and has no object, so it cannot be made passive.
... and 15 more answers in the PDF
Preview: Explanations
1."The children are looked after by a babysitter every evening."(b)
Phrasal verb 'look after': the preposition 'after' must stay with the verb in the passive. 'Are looked after' — never separate the verb from its particle.
2."No — 'happen' is intransitive and has no object, so it cannot be made passive."(d)
'Happen' is an intransitive verb — it has no object. Only transitive verbs (verbs with an object) can be made passive. Other examples: arrive, die, sleep, exist.
3."The clown was laughed at by the whole class."(a)
Prepositional verb 'laugh at': the preposition 'at' must stay with the verb. 'Was laughed at' — the preposition doesn't move to another position.
4."She was brought up by her grandparents in the countryside."(c)
Phrasal verb 'bring up' (= raise a child): the particle 'up' stays with 'brought'. 'Was brought up' — never separate the verb and particle in passive.
5."No — 'sleep' is intransitive and has no object, so it cannot be made passive."(a)
'Sleep' is intransitive — 'for twelve hours' is a time expression, not an object. You cannot say 'Twelve hours were slept'. Only verbs with a direct object can be made passive.
... and 15 more explanations in the PDF
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