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English practice

Voice and Narration Questions with Answers

Voice and narration questions ask you to change a sentence between active and passive voice, or between direct and indirect speech, without changing its meaning. SSC CGL, CHSL and MTS use them in the English section, and bank prelims such as IBPS and SBI test them as part of grammar and error correction. The rules are fixed, so the questions can be solved mechanically. Tip: identify the tense first, since both voice and narration changes depend on it.

Rules to remember

  • Active to passive: the object becomes the subject, the verb becomes a form of 'be' plus the past participle, and the old subject follows 'by'.
  • Keep the tense of 'be' the same as the active verb: simple present 'is/am/are' + V3; simple past 'was/were' + V3; present perfect 'has/have been' + V3; future 'will be' + V3; present continuous 'is/are being' + V3.
  • Passive of a question: 'Who wrote this letter?' becomes 'By whom was this letter written?'
  • Direct to indirect: if the reporting verb is in the past, move the tense back: simple present to simple past, simple past to past perfect, will to would, can to could.
  • Change time and place words: today to that day, tomorrow to the next day, yesterday to the day before, now to then, here to there, this to that.
  • Pronouns change with meaning: 'I' becomes the speaker (he/she), 'you' becomes the listener.
  • Questions become statements in indirect speech: no question mark, with 'asked' and 'if/whether' (yes/no questions) or the question word (wh-questions).
  • Universal truths and habitual facts stay in the present tense in reported speech.

Worked examples

Q1. Change into the passive voice: The teacher praised the students. (a) The students were praised by the teacher (b) The students are praised by the teacher (c) The students have been praised by the teacher (d) The teacher was praised by the students

  1. The active verb 'praised' is simple past.
  2. The object 'the students' becomes the subject.
  3. The passive is 'were praised' with 'by the teacher'.

Answer: (a) The students were praised by the teacher

Q2. Change into indirect speech: He said to me, "I will meet you tomorrow." (a) He told me that he will meet me tomorrow (b) He told me that he would meet me the next day (c) He said me that he would meet you the next day (d) He told me that I would meet him tomorrow

  1. The reporting verb 'said' is past, so 'will' becomes 'would'.
  2. 'Said to me' becomes 'told me'.
  3. 'I' becomes 'he', 'you' becomes 'me', and 'tomorrow' becomes 'the next day'.

Answer: (b) He told me that he would meet me the next day

Q3. Change into indirect speech: The teacher said to the boy, "Why are you late today?" (a) The teacher asked the boy why was he late that day (b) The teacher asked the boy why he was late that day (c) The teacher asked the boy why he is late today (d) The teacher asked the boy that why he was late that day

  1. A question uses 'asked' and keeps the question word.
  2. The word order becomes that of a statement: 'he was', not 'was he'.
  3. 'Are' moves back to 'was', 'you' becomes 'he', and 'today' becomes 'that day'.
  4. No 'that' is added after 'asked'.

Answer: (b) The teacher asked the boy why he was late that day

Shortcuts that save time

  • Identify the tense and the type of sentence first, then apply the matching rule. This avoids reading all four options in full.
  • Check only the items the rules change: tense, pronoun, time word, word order. Options differ in exactly these places, so you can eliminate quickly.
  • If you are unsure whether a tense should shift, skip the question rather than guess, since a wrong answer costs marks.

Where this appears

SSC CGL Tier-1English Comprehension section
SSC CHSL Tier-1English Language section
SSC MTSEnglish Language and Comprehension section
IBPS/SBI PO PrelimsEnglish Language section
IBPS/SBI Clerk PrelimsEnglish Language section

Voice and Narration

Practice Set
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Change the voice: "The company exports its products to many countries."

English · stress-free practice · answers reveal instantly

Voice and Narration questions with answers

10 sample questions from this topic with the correct option and the solution.

  1. Q1. Change the voice: "The company will launch a new product next month."

    1. A new product has been launched by the company next month.
    2. A new product will be launched by the company next month.
    3. A new product was being launched by the company next month.
    4. A new product are being launched by the company next month.

    Answer: (B) A new product will be launched by the company next month.

    Solution
    Correct passive: "A new product will be launched by the company next month."

  2. Q2. Change the voice: "The company exports its products to many countries."

    1. Its products are exported to many countries by the company.
    2. Its products were being exported to many countries by the company.
    3. Its products are being exported to many countries by the company.
    4. Its products was being exported to many countries by the company.

    Answer: (A) Its products are exported to many countries by the company.

    Solution
    Correct passive: "Its products are exported to many countries by the company."

  3. Q3. Change the voice: "The committee rejected the proposal."

    1. The proposal will have been rejected by the committee.
    2. The proposal were rejected by the committee.
    3. The proposal had been rejected by the committee.
    4. The proposal was rejected by the committee.

    Answer: (D) The proposal was rejected by the committee.

    Solution
    Correct passive: "The proposal was rejected by the committee."

  4. Q4. Change the voice: "The committee rejected the proposal."

    1. The proposal are being rejected by the committee.
    2. The proposal have been rejected by the committee.
    3. The proposal was rejected by the committee.
    4. The proposal had been rejected by the committee.

    Answer: (C) The proposal was rejected by the committee.

    Solution
    Correct passive: "The proposal was rejected by the committee."

  5. Q5. Change the voice: "The company exports its products to many countries."

    1. Its products have been exported to many countries by the company.
    2. Its products are exported to many countries by the company.
    3. Its products is being exported to many countries by the company.
    4. Its products had been exported to many countries by the company.

    Answer: (B) Its products are exported to many countries by the company.

    Solution
    Correct passive: "Its products are exported to many countries by the company."

  6. Q6. Change the voice: "The manager checks the reports every morning."

    1. The reports will be checked by the manager every morning.
    2. The reports was checked by the manager every morning.
    3. The reports are checked by the manager every morning.
    4. The reports are being checked by the manager every morning.

    Answer: (C) The reports are checked by the manager every morning.

    Solution
    Correct passive: "The reports are checked by the manager every morning."

  7. Q7. Change the voice: "The government will announce the results tomorrow."

    1. The results will be announced by the government tomorrow.
    2. The results are being announced by the government tomorrow.
    3. The results were being announced by the government tomorrow.
    4. The results will have been announced by the government tomorrow.

    Answer: (A) The results will be announced by the government tomorrow.

    Solution
    Correct passive: "The results will be announced by the government tomorrow."

  8. Q8. Change the voice: "The committee rejected the proposal."

    1. The proposal was rejected by the committee.
    2. The proposal will have been rejected by the committee.
    3. The proposal were rejected by the committee.
    4. The proposal had been rejected by the committee.

    Answer: (A) The proposal was rejected by the committee.

    Solution
    Correct passive: "The proposal was rejected by the committee."

  9. Q9. Change the voice: "The manager checks the reports every morning."

    1. The reports were being checked by the manager every morning.
    2. The reports are checked by the manager every morning.
    3. The reports will be checked by the manager every morning.
    4. The reports was being checked by the manager every morning.

    Answer: (B) The reports are checked by the manager every morning.

    Solution
    Correct passive: "The reports are checked by the manager every morning."

  10. Q10. Change the voice: "The company exports its products to many countries."

    1. Its products was exported to many countries by the company.
    2. Its products have been exported to many countries by the company.
    3. Its products will be exported to many countries by the company.
    4. Its products are exported to many countries by the company.

    Answer: (D) Its products are exported to many countries by the company.

    Solution
    Correct passive: "Its products are exported to many countries by the company."