Question

Pick the correct passive form of the following sentence:"He urged the council to reduce the rates".

• A. He urged that the rates should reduced.
• B. The council urged to reduce the rates.
• C. The council urges that the rates should be reduced.
• D. The council was urged to reduce the rates.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

To solve this question, we need to find the correct passive voice transformation of the given sentence: "He urged the council to reduce the rates".

In passive voice, the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. The active form constituents are:

• Subject: He
• Verb: urged
• Object: the council

When transforming to passive voice, the object 'the council' will become the subject. The verb 'urged' will change its form to fit the passive voice structure, typically becoming 'was/were urged'. The base form of the infinitive (to reduce) remains unchanged.

Let's evaluate the given options:

1. He urged that the rates should reduced.
   
   This option is incorrect because it does not properly convey who was urged. Additionally, the verb form should be 'be reduced' instead of 'reduced'.
2. The council urged to reduce the rates.
   
   This option is incorrect because it makes it seem like the council is the one doing the urging, which changes the meaning of the original sentence.
3. The council urges that the rates should be reduced.
   
   This option is incorrect because it uses 'urges' instead of 'was urged', indicating a present instead of past action. It also does not follow the correct passive voice structure of the original sentence.
4. The council was urged to reduce the rates.
   
   This is the correct answer. It correctly transforms the active voice sentence into passive voice by making 'the council' the subject and using the past form 'was urged' to indicate the action performed by someone else (implicitly, 'he').

Therefore, the correct passive form of the original sentence is: The council was urged to reduce the rates.