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SSC CHSL Active & Passive Voice

Study Material — 20 PYQs (2019–2019) · Concept Notes · Shortcuts

SSC CHSL Active & Passive Voice is a frequently tested subtopic — 20 previous year questions from 2019–2019 papers are included below with concept notes, key rules and shortcut tricks.

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2019–2019
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Previous Year Questions

SSC CHSL Active & Passive Voice — Past Exam Questions

20 questions from actual SSC CHSL papers · all shown free · click option to reveal solution

Exam Q 12019Previous Year Pattern

Identify the error in the following sentence: The new policy (A) / has been implemented (B) / by the government (C) / for the benefit of all citizens. (D) / No error (E)

Exam Q 22019Previous Year Pattern

Identify the error in the following sentence: The project (A) / will be completed (B) / by the team (C) / by next Friday. (D) / No error (E)

Exam Q 32019Previous Year Pattern

Identify the error in the following sentence: The documents (A) / were being reviewed (B) / by the auditors (C) / when the power cut occurred. (D) / No error (E)

Exam Q 42019Previous Year Pattern

Identify the error in the following sentence: The report (A) / was prepared by (B) / the committee members (C) / last week. (D) / No error (E)

Exam Q 52019Previous Year Pattern

The new policy (A) will be implemented / (B) by all departments / (C) in accordance with / (D) the guidelines issued. / No error

Exam Q 62019Previous Year Pattern

The documents (A) has been / (B) carefully reviewed / (C) by the audit team / (D) last week. / No error

Exam Q 72019Previous Year Pattern

The award (A) was given / (B) to the student / (C) who have scored / (D) the highest marks. / No error

Exam Q 82019Previous Year Pattern

Identify the error in the following sentence: The report (A) / was prepared by the team (B) / and submitted to (C) / the manager yesterday. (D) / No error (E)

Exam Q 92019Previous Year Pattern

Identify the error in the following sentence: The contract (A) / was signed by both parties (B) / and the terms (C) / have been agreed upon yesterday (D). No error (E)

Exam Q 102019Previous Year Pattern

Identify the error in the following sentence: The documents (A) / have been lost (B) / by the office staff (C) / last week. (D) / No error (E)

Exam Q 112019Previous Year Pattern

Identify the error in the following sentence: The new policy (A) / will be announced (B) / to all employees (C) / by the director next month. (D) / No error (E)

Exam Q 122019Previous Year Pattern

Identify the error in the following sentence: The project (A) / has been completed (B) / by the team (C) / since three months. (D) / No error (E)

Exam Q 132019Previous Year Pattern

Identify the error in the following sentence: The contract (A) / was being signed (B) / by both parties (C) / when the lawyer arrived. (D) / No error (E)

Exam Q 142019Previous Year Pattern

Identify the error in the following sentence: The manuscript (A) / was being reviewed by the editor (B) / when the author (C) / has submitted the revised version (D). No error (E)

Exam Q 152019Previous Year Pattern

Identify the error in the following sentence: The new policy (A) / will be implemented by the management (B) / and all employees (C) / will be informed about the changes (D). No error (E)

Exam Q 162019Previous Year Pattern

Choose the correct passive voice form of the sentence: 'The manager is reviewing all the applications carefully.'

Exam Q 172019Previous Year Pattern

Identify the error in the following sentence: The report (A) / which was prepared by the committee / (B) have been submitted (C) / to the board yesterday. (D) / No error (E)

Exam Q 182019Previous Year Pattern

Identify the error in the following sentence: The research findings (A) / which was conducted over three years (B) / have been published in a prestigious journal (C) / and is being widely discussed by the academic community. (D) / No error (E)

Exam Q 192019Previous Year Pattern

Identify the error in the following sentence: The files (A) / which have been stored in the archive (B) / should be retrieved and being examined (C) / by the senior staff members who was assigned to this task. (D) / No error (E)

Exam Q 202019Previous Year Pattern

Identify the error in the following sentence: The proposal (A) / which was submitted by the team (B) / has been rejected (C) / because it does not meet the criteria that was established. (D) / No error (E)

Concept Notes

Active & Passive Voice— Rules & Concept

1.Core Concept

Read this first — the foundation of the topic

Active Voice: The subject performs the action

Example

'Ram writes a letter.' Passive Voice: The action is performed on the subject

Example

'A letter is written by Ram.' The key difference is WHO is doing the action versus WHO is receiving the action

KEY TRANSFORMATION RULES

Object of active voice becomes subject of passive voice 2. Subject of active voice becomes object with 'by' in passive voice 3. Verb changes to 'be + past participle' form 4. Tense remains the same in both voices

2.Formula Block

Memorise — at least one formula appears in every paper
Subject + Verb + Object → Object + be/is/am/are/was/were + Past Participle + by + Subject
Present Simple: do/does → is/am/are + Past Participle
Past Simple: did → was/were + Past Participle
Present Perfect: has/have + Past Participle → has/have been + Past Participle
Future Simple: will + base verb → will be + Past Participle

Active to Passive Transformation:

Tense-wise Formula:

3.Exam Patterns

What examiners ask — read before attempting PYQs
1

Direct conversion (Active to Passive or vice versa)

2

Identifying correct passive form from options

3

Error detection in voice usage

4

Fill in the blanks with correct voice form

4.Shortcuts

Use these to save 30–60 seconds per question

#1 - THE 'BY' TEST: If you can add 'by someone' at the end of the sentence meaningfully, it's likely passive voice. If it sounds odd, it's active voice. SHORTCUT TRICK #2 - TENSE PRESERVATION: The tense never changes during voice conversion. If active is present tense, passive will also be present tense.

Only the verb form changes.

5.Worked Example

Solve this step-by-step before moving on
1
Step 1

Identify Subject (teacher), Verb (explains), Object (lesson)

2
Step 2

Make object the new subject → 'The lesson'

3
Step 3

Convert verb to passive form → 'is explained' (present simple)

4
Step 4

Add 'by' + original subject → 'by the teacher' Passive: 'The lesson is explained by the teacher.' WORKED EXAMPLE 2: Passive: 'The book was written by Shakespeare.'

1
Step 1

Identify passive structure (was written = past simple passive)

2
Step 2

Make 'by' phrase the new subject → 'Shakespeare'

3
Step 3

Convert to active verb → 'wrote' (past simple)

4
Step 4

Make original subject the object → 'the book' Active: 'Shakespeare wrote the book.' SHORTCUT TRICK #3 - MODAL VERB FORMULA: With modals (can, may, must, should): Active: Subject + Modal + Base Verb + Object Passive: Object + Modal + be + Past Participle + by + Subject Example: 'You must complete the work' → 'The work must be completed by you' THE #1 MOST COMMON TRAP: Students often change the tense while converting voice. Remember: TENSE STAYS THE SAME, only verb form changes. If the active sentence is in past tense, the passive will also be in past tense. Don't convert 'He wrote a letter' to 'A letter is written by him.' The correct answer is 'A letter was written by him.' Another major mistake is forgetting that some verbs cannot be made passive. Intransitive verbs (verbs without objects) like 'sleep', 'die', 'arrive' cannot be converted to passive voice. EXAM TIP: In SSC CGL, always read the entire sentence carefully. Look for time indicators (yesterday, tomorrow, always) to confirm the tense. This prevents the common error of wrong tense usage in voice conversion.

Key Points to Remember

  • Active voice: subject performs action; Passive voice: action performed on subject
  • Formula: Subject + Verb + Object → Object + be + Past Participle + by + Subject
  • Tense never changes during voice conversion, only verb form changes
  • Shortcut: Use 'by someone' test to identify passive voice sentences
  • Modal formula: Modal + be + Past Participle for passive voice
  • Intransitive verbs (sleep, die, arrive) cannot be made passive
  • Object of active voice becomes subject of passive voice
  • Present simple: do/does → is/am/are + Past Participle
  • Past simple: did → was/were + Past Participle
  • Future simple: will + base verb → will be + Past Participle

Exam-Specific Tips

  • Voice questions appear 2-3 times in every SSC CGL English paper
  • Intransitive verbs like sleep, die, arrive, happen cannot be converted to passive voice
  • Modal passive formula: Modal + be + Past Participle (can write → can be written)
  • Present perfect passive uses 'has/have been + Past Participle' structure
  • Interrogative passive starts with auxiliary verb: 'Is the work done by him?'
  • Imperative active voice converts to 'Let + object + be + past participle'
  • Future perfect passive uses 'will have been + past participle' structure
  • Continuous passive uses 'being' with past participle: 'is being written'
Practice MCQs

Active & Passive Voice — Practice Questions

4graded MCQs · easy to hard · full solution & trap analysis

All MCQs →
Practice 1hard

Identify the error in the following sentence: The proposal (A) / which was submitted by three departments (B) / have been rejected (C) / because it did not meet the criteria. (D) / No error (E)

Practice 2hard

Identify the error in the following sentence: The documents (A) / that were being reviewed (B) / by the committee members was (C) / finally approved last week. (D) / No error (E)

Practice 3hard

Identify the error in the following sentence: The research findings (A) / which have been conducted (B) / over five years has revealed (C) / significant insights into climate change. (D) / No error (E)

Practice 4hard

Identify the error in the following sentence: The report (A) / which was prepared by the team / (B) have been submitted (C) / to the board yesterday. (D) / No error (E)

60-Second Revision — Active & Passive Voice

  • Remember: Tense stays same, only verb form changes in voice conversion
  • Formula: Active Object becomes Passive Subject, add 'by' before active subject
  • Trap: Don't change tense while converting - most common error in exams
  • Shortcut: Add 'by someone' to test if sentence can be passive
  • Quick check: Modal + be + Past Participle for modal passive sentences
  • Alert: Intransitive verbs cannot be made passive
  • Exam tip: Look for time indicators to identify correct tense before conversion
←ConjunctionsDirect & Indirect Speech→
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