Module: | Interrogative & Imperative Sentences
Q67: Consider the following statements regarding sentence transformations:
1. The active sentence "The police beat a number of protestors last night" converts to the passive voice as "A number of protestors were beaten by the police last night."
2. The active sentence "The coach reprimanded the players for poor performance" converts to the passive voice as "The players were reprimanded by the coach for poor performance."
3. The active sentence "The sewage water smells foul" converts to the passive voice as "The sewage water is smelt foul."
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
2. The active sentence "The coach reprimanded the players for poor performance" converts to the passive voice as "The players were reprimanded by the coach for poor performance."
3. The active sentence "The sewage water smells foul" converts to the passive voice as "The sewage water is smelt foul."
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
✅ Correct Answer: A
🎯 Quick Answer:
Statements 1 and 2 correctly apply standard past tense rules. Statement 3 fails to properly apply the quasi-passive formula.Structural Breakdown: Statements 1 and 2 accurately apply the "was/were + V3" rule, pushing the time marker ("last night") and reason modifier ("for poor performance") to the absolute end of the sentence.
Historical/Related Context: The "smells foul" example is a frequent trap in objective English exams, testing the anomalous rule where adjectives must be separated from the past participle.
Causal Reasoning: Statement 3 is incorrect because "smells" is a quasi-passive verb.
It describes a state of being rather than a direct action performed on an object.
The mandatory structural conversion is: "The sewage water is foul when it is smelt."