Change the following sentence into Passive form:
Someone has stolen the keys from my office.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → The keys have been stolen from my office.
Active to passive (present perfect):
| Change | Active | Passive | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Object becomes subject | the keys | The keys | The object “the keys” becomes the subject. |
| Tense kept | has stolen | have been stolen | The present perfect stays. Present perfect passive = has / have + been + past participle. “Keys” is plural, so “have been stolen”. |
| Agent (by ...) | Someone | – (dropped) | When the doer is unknown (someone, somebody, people), the by-phrase is left out. |
| Full sentence | Someone has stolen the keys from my office. | The keys have been stolen from my office. |
The rest of the sentence, "from my office", stays as it is.
Example: Someone has broken the window. → The window has been broken.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: From my office the keys were stolen. — Incorrect. "Were stolen" is the simple past. The active sentence is in the present perfect.
Option 2: The keys had been stolen by someone. — Incorrect.
- "Had been stolen" is the past perfect, a change of tense.
- It keeps the needless "by someone" and drops "from my office".
Option 3: My keys has been stolen from my office. — Incorrect.
- The plural subject "keys" needs have, not "has".
- "The keys" is changed to "My keys".