Choose the most appropriate passive construction of the given sentence:
The caterers had already served dinner when the guests from Lucknow arrived.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Dinner had already been served by the caterers when the guests from Lucknow arrived.
Passive of the past perfect:
| Change | Active | Passive | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Object becomes subject | dinner | Dinner | Dinner receives the action, so it becomes the subject. |
| Tense kept | had already served | had already been served | “Had served” is in the past perfect, so the passive stays in the past perfect: had been + past participle (V3). “Already” stays after “had”. |
| Agent (by ...) | The caterers | by the caterers | The caterers are named, so the doer comes after “by”. |
| Full sentence | The caterers had already served dinner when the guests from Lucknow arrived. | Dinner had already been served by the caterers when the guests from Lucknow arrived. |
Other past perfect verbs work the same way: had + V3 → had been + V3. Example: The farmer had sold the cow before noon. → The cow had been sold by the farmer before noon.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: Dinner was already being served by the caterers when the guests from Lucknow arrived. — Incorrect. “Was being served” is the past continuous. It says the serving was still going on, but the active says it was over.
Option 3: Dinner had already served by the caterers when the guests from Lucknow arrived. — Incorrect. “Been” is missing. Without it, dinner becomes the one that served something.
Option 4: Dinner has already been served by the caterers when the guests from Lucknow arrived. — Incorrect. “Has been served” is the present perfect. The active “had served” is the past perfect.