Question

The principal kept the staff members waiting.
Change the above statement into passive voice.
A) The staff members were kept waiting for the principal.
B) The staff members were kept waiting by the principal.
C) The staff members were waiting for the principal.
D) The staff members were being kept waiting for the principal.

Answer 1

Hint: In a sentence with an active voice, the thumb rule says that the subject acts on the verb. The active voice has a forceful, direct, and unambiguous tone in its sentences. The passive voice is always made up of a conjugated form of to be and the past participle of the verb. This frequently results in a preposition as well.

Complete answer:
The subject 'The principal' performs an action 'kept' against the object 'the staff members' in the provided sentence, which is written in the active voice. If this sentence is changed to passive voice, the subject must be changed as well in order for the sentence's meaning to be preserved.

Option A) The staff members were kept waiting for the principal: The word 'for' does not convey the action's source, i.e. the principal. The principal was the one who kept the members waiting. This option indicates that the members were kept waiting for the principal (by someone else). Its meaning has shifted. Therefore this option is incorrect.

Option B) The staff members were kept waiting by the principal: In order to convert a sentence in active voice to passive voice or vice versa object takes the position of the subject in the supplied sentence, and vice versa. The term 'by' is used since the subject now receives the action from the object.
The sentence's verb form is likewise modified from active to passive.
'Subject (The principal) + verb (kept) + object (the staff members) + object complement (waiting)' modifies to:
'New subject (The staff members) + verb (were kept) + object companion (waiting) + by + new object (the principal)' which is indicated in option B. Hence, it is the correct option.

Option C) The staff members were waiting for the principal: The verb 'were waiting' is in the active voice, yet the sentence is being asked to be converted to the passive voice. Since the question asks us to converg the sentence in passive voice, this option is incorrect.

Option D) The staff members were being kept waiting for the principal: The word 'being' in the phrase 'being kept waiting' conveys continuous tense, although the statement in question is in simple past tense. Hence making this option inappropriate.

Thus the correct answer is option ‘B’.

Note: Rules regarding active and passive voices:
- Determine the subject, verb, and object: S+V+O.
-While working with sentences in an active voice the object of the sentence is changed into the subject.
- Put the appropriate auxiliary verb or assisting verb here.
- Change the verb's past participle to the verb's present participle.
- Change the subject to an object by using the preposition "by."