Identify the correct Passive Voice form of the following sentence:
The chief minister inaugurated the Auto Expo last week.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → The Auto Expo was inaugurated by the chief minister last week.
Active to passive voice (simple past):
| Change | Active | Passive | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Object becomes subject | the Auto Expo | The Auto Expo | “The Auto Expo” moves to the front. |
| Tense kept | inaugurated | was inaugurated | Be + past participle in the same tense: simple past “inaugurated” becomes “was inaugurated”. |
| Agent (by ...) | The chief minister | by the chief minister | The doer goes to the end as “by the chief minister”. |
| Full sentence | The chief minister inaugurated the Auto Expo last week. | The Auto Expo was inaugurated by the chief minister last week. |
The time phrase "last week" stays.
Example: The new bridge was opened by the governor yesterday.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: The chief minister did not inaugurate the Auto Expo last week. — Incorrect. It is still active, and "did not" turns it into a negative, changing the meaning.
Option 2: The Auto Expo was inaugurated last week. — Incorrect. It is passive, but it leaves out the doer. The agent is dropped only when the doer is unknown or unimportant. Here the chief minister is named and is the point of the sentence.
Option 4: Who had inaugurated the Auto Expo last week? — Incorrect. It is an active question in the past perfect, not the passive of the statement.