Voice Change & Quasi-Passive
You already know most of this. Ten traps, five minutes each side — guess the sentence, then reveal the answer and why. Built for the night before, not for completeness.
🌙 Ten traps. That's it.
Not a full chapter on passive voice — just the 10 traps that actually show up in SSC and bank exams for voice change in complex sentences and quasi-passive verbs. Read one, guess before you reveal, and move on. If these ten feel solid, you're ready for tomorrow.
Voice Change & Quasi-Passive — 10-Trap Revision Card
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The PDF includes every answer and explanation, even ones you haven't revealed here.
Trap 1 — Two correct answers, one wrong mix
Make this passive.
"People say that he is honest."
✅ Correct
- It is said that he is honest.
- He is said to be honest.
❌ The trap most students write
He is said that he is honest.
Both correct forms above are valid — pick one, don't blend them. The trap answer mixes the two patterns into one broken sentence.
Trap 2 — “to me,” not “by me”
Make this passive.
"I know that he is innocent."
✅ Correct
- It is known to me that he is innocent.
❌ The trap most students write
It is known by me that he is innocent.
Verbs like know, believe, think, suppose, feel — call these “knowing verbs” — take to, never by, in this pattern. Memorise the swap.
Trap 3 — Don't touch it, it's already passive in meaning
Make this passive.
"The pen writes smoothly."
✅ Correct
- No change — leave it exactly as it is.
❌ The trap most students write
The pen is written smoothly.
This sentence looks active but already means passive — the pen is being written with. This is called quasi-passive. Same family: “The book sells well,” “The rice cooks fast,” “The cloth washes easily.” Spot the pattern and don't convert it.
Trap 4 — Some verbs never go passive
Make this passive.
"He resembles his father."
✅ Correct
- No change — cannot be converted to passive.
❌ The trap most students write
His father is resembled by him.
Verbs describing a state, not an action — have (possession), resemble, suit, fit, cost, weigh, lack — don't take passive voice, even though they look like they have an object. Nothing is being “done to” anything here.
Trap 5 — Don't drop the modal
Make this passive.
"He said that he could finish the work."
✅ Correct
- It was said by him that the work could be finished.
❌ The trap most students write
It was said by him that the work was finished.
Dropping “could” changes the meaning from possibility to a plain finished fact. Any modal (could, would, might, should) in the original must survive into the passive.
Trap 6 — Orders and requests need “Let”
Make this passive.
"Open the door."
✅ Correct
- Let the door be opened.
❌ The trap most students write
The door is opened.
That trap answer is just a plain statement — it loses the command entirely. Any order or request in passive voice starts with Let: “Let the work be done (by him)” for “Do the work.”
Trap 7 — Two objects, two correct passives
Make this passive.
"He gave me a book."
✅ Correct
- I was given a book (by him).
- A book was given to me (by him).
❌ The trap most students write
A book was given me by him.
When a sentence has an indirect object (me) and a direct object (a book), both forms above are correct. The trap answer just drops the required “to” before the indirect object.
Trap 8 — Convert both clauses, not just one
Make this passive.
"He said that I had stolen his pen."
✅ Correct
- It was said by him that his pen had been stolen by me.
❌ The trap most students write
It was said by him that I had stolen his pen.
The trap answer only converts the main clause and leaves the second half active. When a complex sentence has two clauses that can each take an object, convert both.
Trap 9 — “Difficult/easy + to + verb” stays active
This sentence has already been (wrongly) converted. Fix it.
"It is difficult to be understood by him."
✅ Correct
- It is difficult to understand him.
❌ The trap most students write
It is difficult to be understood by him.
One of the most common mistakes in Indian English, spoken and written. After difficult, easy, hard, tough + to + verb, the verb stays in its plain active form even though the meaning feels passive. Never add “be” here.
Trap 10 — “One,” “everyone,” “no one” as the doer
Make this passive.
"One must respect one's elders."
✅ Correct
- Elders must be respected.
❌ The trap most students write
Elders must be respected by one.
When the subject is a vague “one / everyone / people,” just drop it in the passive — forcing it back in sounds unnatural.
That's the last 5% that trips people up. The rest, you already have.
Sleep well. You're ready.
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