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.
Passive of an infinitive ("It is time to ..."):
| Change | Active | Passive | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Object becomes subject | the shop | for the shop | The object of the infinitive, “the shop”, becomes the subject of the passive infinitive and is introduced by for: “for the shop”. |
| Tense kept | to shut | to be shut | “It is time” stays in the present. The active infinitive “to shut” becomes the passive infinitive to be + past participle: “to be shut”. |
| Full sentence | It is time to shut the shop. | It is time for the shop 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.