Multiple choice for passive voice

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Hello!

I have a quiz like this

Active: They have changed the date of the meeting
Passive: _________
A. The date of the meeting has been changed by them.
B. The date of the meeting has been changed.
C. The meeting has been changed the date.
D. The date of the meeting has changed.
And the answer is B

My question is that Is B answer right? How about A answer? Is this quiz allright?

Thanks for your consideration.

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The correct answer is A. B is close, but it doesn't include the original subject ("they," which becomes "them" converted to the passive voice) of the sample sentence.

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I'm not certain what you are trying to accomplish. Can you tell us more?

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Re: Multiple choice for passive voice

yucheng wrote:

Hello!

I have a quiz like this

Active: They have changed the date of the meeting
Passive: _________
A. The date of the meeting has been changed by them.
B. The date of the meeting has been changed.
C. The meeting has been changed the date.
D. The date of the meeting has changed.
And the answer is B

My question is that Is B answer right? How about A answer? Is this quiz allright?

Thanks for your consideration.

A major reason for using the passive is because the 'actor' is unimportant. While using a "by them" isn't impossible, it sure is unnatural.
B. is the best answer in terms of natural usage.
If the teacher is trying to have

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Thank you so much, JTT

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I agree. The date of the meeting has been changed is correct. In this case, the only important information is the change of the date.

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As far as conveying information goes, I agree that the "by them" is unnecessary. But in the context of a grammar quiz, if the question is asking you to convert the sentence from the active voice to the passive voice, you need the "by them" to show that what was the subject in the active sentence is now in the predicate of the passive sentence. By leaving out the "by them," you are definitely improving the sentence but not quite converting the original from active to passive (in effect, you're altering the original).

Wordpower.ws has a good explanation of the passive voice.

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Shapeless wrote:

As far as conveying information goes, I agree that the "by them" is unnecessary. But in the context of a grammar quiz, if the question is asking you to convert the sentence from the active voice to the passive voice, you need the "by them" to show that what was the subject in the active sentence is now in the predicate of the passive sentence. By leaving out the "by them," you are definitely improving the sentence but not quite converting the original from active to passive (in effect, you're altering the original).

It's not a good idea to have ESLs do pointless unnatural grammar transformations, Shapeless. If the teacher wants to design something wherein it's natural to use the actor, then that would be a good thing.

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Yes, I agree. Passive to active makes sense. Active to passive, not so much. I suppose it's a way of teaching the students the difference between the two, but there may be better ways to do it. It makes me wonder about the exact nature of Yucheng's assignment.

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My assignment is to choose the best passive sentence for the active above

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yucheng wrote:

My assignment is to choose the best passive sentence for the active above

'best' is a bad description for 'best' has different meanings depending on the situation.

Sentence B would be the normal neutral. Sentence A would be used when someone wanted to emphatically state who did it and the referent for 'them' was known by the people in the conversation. As a normal neutral, it is not 'best'.

Active: They have changed the date of the meeting
Passive: _________
A. The date of the meeting has been changed by them.
B. The date of the meeting has been changed.
C. The meeting has been changed the date.
D. The date of the meeting has changed.
And the answer is B

A big NO to sentence C.

Sentence D is fine and it's very natural but it isn't a passive form.

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B is the best answer: It is the least awkward.

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I have three sentences
1st: Without my teacher's help, I couldn't have overcome the difficulty.
2nd: Without the help of my teacher, I couldn't have overcome the difficulty.
3rd: Without the helping of my teacher, I couldn't have overcome the difficulty.
My question is that which underlined part in three sentences is correct or all of them are ok?

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Number three is absolutely not American English and is awkward and unpleasant to read or listen to. Both one and two are correct but I prefer two.

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?? 3rd: Without the helping of my teacher, I couldn't have overcome the difficulty. ??

As POM said, # 3 is unnatural. Might it not be because the noun form in English doesn't contain that meaning?

With some changes in word order, and a switch to 'helping' as a verb, it's okay.

3rd revised: Without my teacher helping me, I couldn't have overcome the difficulty.

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Thanks so much. I got it.

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JTT -- "Without the helping of my teacher . . ." sounds like the teacher's dinner was added to the writer's rations. However, the use of a synonym, which makes the sentence, "Without the aid of my teacher . . ." is just fine.

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plainoldme wrote:

JTT -- "Without the helping of my teacher . . ." sounds like the teacher's dinner was added to the writer's rations.

We're in full agreement on that, POM.

However, the use of a synonym, which makes the sentence, "Without the aid of my teacher . . ." is just fine.

Excellent addition. I hope Yucheng gets a chance to see it.

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I have just received a letter in which a person would like to be my pen friend.
So How can I answer in my reply?
Can I write
"Thank you very much for your letter. I would like to be your pen friend" or "Thank you very much for your letter. I am very happy to be your pen friend"
What do you think about my opening in the letter?
Thanks

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yucheng wrote:

I have just received a letter in which a person would like to be my pen friend.
So How can I answer in my reply?
Can I write
"Thank you very much for your letter. I would like to be your pen friend" or "Thank you very much for your letter. I am very happy to be your pen friend"
What do you think about my opening in the letter?
Thanks

They all seem good, Yucheng. You should be off to a good start.

Is this person a native speaker and if so, they likely know that you're an ESL, so don't worry too much. Ask them to point out anything unnatural and trt to copy some of the idiomatic phrses they use.

Good luck.

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Multiple choice for passive voice

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