Choose the correct passive construction of the given sentence :-
He gave back my spectacles to me.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → My spectacles were given back to me by him.
Active to passive voice (simple past, phrasal verb):
Other tenses: is/am/are + V3 (simple present), was/were + V3 (simple past), has/have been + V3 (present perfect), is/are being + V3 (present continuous), will be + V3 (simple future).
| Change | Active | Passive | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Object becomes subject | my spectacles | My spectacles | “My spectacles” comes at the start. |
| Tense kept | gave | were given | Be + past participle in the same tense. Simple past “gave” becomes “were given” (plural subject “spectacles”). |
| Agent (by ...) | He | by him | The doer “He” becomes “by him”. “To me” stays as it is. |
| Full sentence | He gave back my spectacles to me. | My spectacles were given back to me by him. |
Phrasal verb: "give back" means return, so the particle "back" stays with the verb: "were given back".
Example: She handed over the keys to me. → The keys were handed over to me by her.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: My spectacles are given to me by him. — Incorrect.
- "are given" is the simple present passive. The active sentence is in the simple past, which needs "were given".
- It drops "back", so the sense of returning is lost.
Option 2: The spectacles were given to me. — Incorrect.
- It drops "back" and the doer "by him", and changes "my" to "the".
- It no longer reports the whole of the active sentence.
Option 3: He gave the spectacles to me. — Incorrect. It is still in the active voice (the doer "He" is the subject), and "back" is dropped.