Select the option that best expresses the given sentence in the Passive Voice:-
'What are you painting?'
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → What is being painted by you?
Active to passive voice (wh-question, present continuous):
Pattern: am/is/are + being + past participle.
| Change | Active | Passive | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Object becomes subject | What (object) | What (subject) + is | The object “what” stays first and now acts as the subject, so the verb is singular: “is”. |
| Tense kept | are painting | is being painted | Be + past participle, in the same tense: present continuous “are painting” becomes “is being painted”. |
| Agent (by ...) | you | by you | “You” becomes “by you”. |
| Full sentence | What are you painting? | What is being painted by you? |
The question mark stays.
Example: What are they building? → What is being built by them?
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: What were you painting? — Incorrect. Still in the active voice, and the tense changes to the past continuous.
Option 3: What had been painted by you? — Incorrect. A passive, but in the past perfect. "Being" (the continuous) is lost.
Option 4: What was being painted by you? — Incorrect. A continuous passive, but in the past. "Are painting" is present, so "is being painted" is needed.