Change the voice of the following sentence from active to passive:
"I opened the window"
Choose the most appropriate option:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → The window was opened by me.
Active to passive (simple past):
| Change | Active | Passive | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Object becomes subject | the window | The window | The object, “the window”, becomes the subject. |
| Tense kept | opened | was opened | The simple past “opened” becomes was + past participle: “was opened”. |
| Agent (by ...) | I | by me | The doer moves to a by-phrase, and the pronoun takes its object form: “I” becomes “by me”. |
| Full sentence | I opened the window. | The window was opened by me. |
Example: She wrote the letter. → The letter was written by her.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: I was the one who opened option the window — Incorrect. It is still an active sentence with "I" as the doer, and it carries a stray word, "option".
Option 2: The window was opened and I did it. — Incorrect. It splits the idea into two clauses instead of using the by-phrase. The second clause is active again.
Option 3: The window was by I. — Incorrect.
- The past participle opened is missing.
- After "by" the pronoun must be me, not "I".