In the following question, a sentence has been given in Active/Passive Voice.…
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In the following question, a sentence has been given in Active/Passive Voice. Out of the four alternatives suggested, select the one which best expresses the same sentence in Passive/Active Voice.
When big tech companies owned your phones, they could make money on all sorts of services.
- A.
When your phones are owned by big tech companies, they could make money on all sorts of services.
- B.
When your phones were owned by big tech companies, they could make money on all sorts of services.
- C.
When your phone were being owned by big tech companies, they could make money on all sorts of services.
- D.
When your phones owned big tech companies, they could make money on all sorts of services.
Attempted by 34 students.
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Correct answer: B
Answer: When your phones were owned by big tech companies, they could make money on all sorts of services.
Explanation:
Identify subject and object in the active sentence: "big tech companies" is the subject and "your phones" is the object.
In the passive, the original object becomes the subject: "your phones" starts the clause.
Match tense and number: the active verb is simple past (owned), so use past passive: plural subject "phones" takes "were + past participle": "were owned."
Add the agent with "by" if needed: "by big tech companies." Keep the rest of the sentence unchanged: "they could make money on all sorts of services."
Why other choices are wrong:
Using present passive (are owned) changes the tense and meaning.
Using progressive passive (were being owned) is unnecessary here and may be ungrammatical with the subject form given ('phone were').
Reordering the words so that "phones owned big tech companies" reverses the meaning and is grammatically incorrect for expressing the original idea.