Question

She has given him a box.
Change the following sentence into passive voice
A) He has been given a box by her.
B) He had been given a box by her.
C) He will be given a box by her.
D) He is being given a box by her.

Answer 1

Hint: In terms of voice, verbs can be active (The executive committee approved the new policy) or passive (The new policy was approved by the executive committee). The subject and verb relationship in the active voice is straightforward: the subject is a do-er, and the verb propels the phrase ahead. The subject of the statement in the passive voice is not a doer, but is acted upon by another agent or something unspecified (The new policy was approved).

Complete answer:
A verb's passive forms are formed by combining a form of the "to be verb" with the main verb's past participle. Other auxiliary verbs are occasionally used.

Option A) He has been given a box by her: The given sentence in the question indicates an action being done by the subject. In order to change the sentence in the passive voice the subject in the active voice becomes the object in the passive voice, i.e. it receives the action. ‘She’ is changed to object ‘her’. In the passive voice, the indirect object 'him' is converted to the subject 'he'. The present perfect tense is used in the given sentence. The passive voice tense forms in this tense:
has/have + been + V3 = present perfect (passive voice).
Hence, it is the correct option.

Option B) He had been given a box by her: The given question is in present perfect tense. The tense form of present perfect active is: has/have + verb’s 3rd form. The passive voice tense has to be: has/have + been + verb’s 3rd form. This option is incorrect as “had been” makes the sentence to be in past perfect tense. The present perfect tense in active voice is changed into present perfect tense in passive voice.

Option C) He will be given a box by her: The passive voice tense “will be given” makes the option inappropriate. Since the question is in the present perfect tense, the solution doesn’t make use of the “ be + past participle form” rather it changes the tense to future tense by making use of “will” . Therefore the option is incorrect.

Option D) He is being given a box by her: The construction of passive sentences in the present perfect tense is as follows:
The active sentence's object + has/have + been + the verb's past participle form + by + the active sentence's subject. The given solution does not follow this pattern. The use of “being given” makes the sentence to be in the present continuous tense. Hence the option is incorrect.

Therefore the correct answer is Option (A) i.e, He has been given a box by her.

Note: Things to note while working with active and passive voice:
- The subject of the verb in the active voice becomes the object in passive voice phrases.
- The past participle form of major verbs is a rule of thumb. Love, for example, becomes loved.
- Depending on the tense of the verb, the auxiliary verb ‘be' (am, is, was, were) is inserted before the past participle.