Module: | Interrogative & Imperative Sentences
Q48: Consider the following statements regarding sentence transformations:
1. The active sentence "People say that he is a corporate spy" converts to the passive voice as "It is said that he is a corporate spy."
2. The active sentence "They believe that the government will fall" converts to the passive voice as "It is believed that the government will fall."
3. The active sentence "Everyone knows that the earth is round" converts to the passive voice as "That the earth is round is known by everyone."
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
2. The active sentence "They believe that the government will fall" converts to the passive voice as "It is believed that the government will fall."
3. The active sentence "Everyone knows that the earth is round" converts to the passive voice as "That the earth is round is known by everyone."
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
✅ Correct Answer: A
🎯 Quick Answer:
Statements 1 and 2 flawlessly handle general belief clauses using the impersonal passive. Statement 3 fails due to a fixed preposition violation.Structural Breakdown: Statements 1 and 2 correctly replace the vague active subjects with the impersonal "It is" construction, passively conjugating the main verb (said, believed) while leaving the subordinate clause intact.
Historical/Related Context: The "People say" to "It is said" conversion is a staple of English competency tests.
However, examiners frequently mix these with fixed preposition traps (like the verb "know") to penalize rote memorization.
Causal Reasoning: Statement 3 is incorrect because the verb "know" in the passive voice strictly requires the preposition "to", not "by". While the clause structure is somewhat acceptable, the prepositional error makes it invalid.
The correct transformation is "That the earth is round is known to everyone."