Choose the appropriate passive form of the following sentence:
All his friends laughed at him.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → He was laughed at by all his friends.
Passive of a prepositional verb (laugh at):
| Change | Active | Passive | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Object becomes subject | him | He | “Him” becomes “He”. |
| Tense kept | laughed | was laughed | “Laughed” is simple past, so it becomes “was laughed”. |
| Agent (by ...) | All his friends | by all his friends | “All his friends” moves after “by”. |
| Full sentence | All his friends laughed at him. | He was laughed at by all his friends. |
Preposition stays: "laugh at" is one verb, so at stays with it: "was laughed at".
Example: The nurse looked after the baby. → The baby was looked after by the nurse.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: He was laugh by all his friends. — Incorrect. The passive needs the past participle "laughed", and the preposition "at" is missing.
Option 2: He is laugh at by his friends. — Incorrect. "Is" is present tense, "laugh" is not the past participle, and "all" is dropped.
Option 3: He is laughed by all his friends. — Incorrect. "Is" changes the tense, and "at" is missing.