Identify the correct Active Voice form of the following sentence from the options given below:
He was surprised at the results.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → The results surprised him.
Passive to active voice (simple past):
| Change | Passive | Active | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agent (at ...) becomes subject | at the results | The results | The doer, “the results”, introduced by “at”, moves to the front as the subject. |
| Tense kept | was surprised | surprised | “Was surprised” (simple past passive) becomes the simple past active surprised. |
| Subject becomes object | He | him | The passive subject becomes the object, with the object pronoun: “he” becomes him. |
| Full sentence | He was surprised at the results. | The results surprised him. |
Example: She was pleased with the gift. → The gift pleased her.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: The results surprised them. — Incorrect. "He" should become him, not "them".
Option 3: The results never surprised him. — Incorrect. "Never" makes it negative and reverses the meaning.
Option 4: No surprise for him with the results. — Incorrect. It has no verb and changes the meaning. It is not a sentence in the active voice.