Choose the correct passive construction of the given sentence :
Should we not obey our parents?
(A) We should obey our parents.
(B) Should our parents not be obeyed by us?
(C) Our parents should be obeyed by us.
(D) Parents ought to be obeyed to.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → (B) only
| Active | Passive |
|---|---|
| Should we not obey our parents? | Should our parents not be obeyed by us? |
Active to passive voice (question with a modal):
- Object becomes subject: "our parents" becomes the subject.
- Tense kept: modal + base verb becomes modal + be + past participle: "should obey" → "should be obeyed".
- Agent (by ...): the doer "we" becomes "by us".
- A question stays a question: the modal "should" comes before the new subject, and "not" stays with it.
- Other passive forms: is/am/are + V3, was/were + V3, has/have been + V3, will be + V3, is being + V3.
Example: Can you solve this sum? → Can this sum be solved by you?
(A) We should obey our parents. — Incorrect.
- The verb "should obey" is still active, and the question has become a statement.
(B) Should our parents not be obeyed by us? — Correct.
- It uses modal + be + past participle and keeps the question form and the negative.
(C) Our parents should be obeyed by us. — Incorrect.
- It is passive, but the question and the negative are lost, so the meaning changes.
(D) Parents ought to be obeyed to. — Incorrect.
- It replaces "should" with "ought to", turns the question into a statement and adds a wrong "to" after "obeyed" ("obey" takes its object directly).
Contrast: the passive of a negative question keeps both the question form and "not" (Should our parents not be obeyed by us?). (C) is passive but has become a statement.