Question

Given below is a newspaper headline. Choose the option which explains the headline:
Hurricane Laila Hits Andhra Coast
A. Andhra coast was hit by Hurricane Laila.
B. Hurricane Laila coast hit by Andhra.
C. Both the above mean the same.
D. None of the above.

Answer 1

Hint: This is a newspaper headline (a heading used to give a quick glance of what the entire news is about and doesn’t always follow the rules of grammar in order to keep it precise and understandable enough) and has been written in Active Voice – Simple Present and doesn’t follow the regular English Grammar rules. Thus, a Passive Voice conversion is required.

Complete step by step answer:
Option a – Andhra coast was hit by Hurricane Laila:
The sentence has been converted into Passive Voice. The original headline as per grammar should be ‘Hurricane Laila Hit Andhra Coast’ – Simple Past Tense Active Voice Sentence where Hurricane Laila is the subject, Hit is the 2nd form of the Verb and Andhra Coast is object. This option converts best as – Subject Hurricane Laila becomes object, Object Andhra Coast becomes Subject, helping verb was followed by the 3rd form of Hit (Hit-Hit-Hit).
Example:
AV: I stole his book - PV: His book was stolen by me.
AV: The snake bit the saint – PV: The saint was bitten by the snake.
Option b – Hurricane Laila coast hit by Andhra:
This option completely changes the meaning of the sentence as Andhra Coast becomes Hurricane Laila Coast and the Hurricane is hit by Andhra. Hence B is inappropriate.
Option c – Both the above mean the same:
Option B completely changes the meaning of the sentence.
Option d – None of the above:
Option A is the correct answer.

Thus, the correct option is ‘a’ as it follows the pattern of changing Active Voice into Passive Voice.

Note:
All the other three options i.e. option a, b and d have the common mistake i.e. pronoun ‘me’, which is the object of the sentence, has been used at the wrong place. It either has been used after the object ‘umbrella’ or the pronoun ‘it’. Only the option ‘c’ has it in the right place.