Choose the correct passive voice construction for the following sentence from the options given below:
It is time to shut the shop.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → It is time for the shop to be shut.
| Active | Passive |
|---|---|
| It is time to shut the shop. | It is time for the shop to be shut. |
Passive of an infinitive ("It is time to ..."):
- Object becomes subject: the object of the infinitive, "the shop", becomes the subject of the passive infinitive and is introduced by for: "for the shop".
- Tense kept: "It is time" stays in the present; the active infinitive "to shut" becomes the passive infinitive to be + past participle: "to be shut".
- Agent (by ...): no doer is named in the active sentence, so no "by" phrase is added.
Example: It is time to post the letters. → It is time for the letters to be posted.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: It is time to shut by the shop. — Incorrect.
- The verb is still active ("to shut").
- "by the shop" makes the shop the doer and leaves "shut" without an object.
Option 2: It is time to be shut by the shop. — Incorrect. "by the shop" makes the shop the doer of the shutting; the shop is what is shut, so it must be the subject: "for the shop to be shut".
Option 3: It is being time for the shop to be shut . — Incorrect. "It is being time" is not English; "is" here states a fact and does not take the continuous form.
Contrast: the shop is what is shut, so it becomes the subject of the passive infinitive ("for the shop to be shut"); "by the shop" would make it the doer.