Select the correct passive form of the given sentence: The landowners sold the…
2019
Select the correct passive form of the given sentence:
The landowners sold the abandoned land to the Jewish Land Fund at an outrageous price.
- A.
The abandoned land sold the landowners to the Jewish Land Fund at an outrageous price.
- B.
The Jewish Land Fund was sold by the landowners to abandoned land at an outrageous price
- C.
The abandoned land had been sold by the landowners to the Jewish Land Fund at an outrageous price.
- D.
The abandoned land was sold by the landowners to the Jewish Land Fund at an outrageous price.
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Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Correct passive form: The abandoned land was sold by the landowners to the Jewish Land Fund at an outrageous price.
Why this is correct:
Identify the object in the active sentence: 'the abandoned land' — this becomes the subject in the passive sentence.
Change the verb to the passive form in the same tense: active 'sold' (simple past) → passive 'was sold'.
Include the agent with 'by': 'by the landowners'.
Keep other elements (recipient and adverbial phrase) unchanged: 'to the Jewish Land Fund at an outrageous price.'
Why the other choices are incorrect:
'The abandoned land sold the landowners to the Jewish Land Fund at an outrageous price.' — This is ungrammatical because it makes the land the doer of the action; the original meaning is lost.
'The Jewish Land Fund was sold by the landowners to abandoned land at an outrageous price' — This swaps roles and produces a nonsensical meaning (the fund cannot be sold to land).
'The abandoned land had been sold by the landowners to the Jewish Land Fund at an outrageous price.' — This uses past perfect passive and so changes the time reference; the direct passive of the simple past should use 'was sold' unless a past-before-past context is required.
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