The passive voice of the question "Who has broken the chair?" is By whom has the chair been broken?
Understanding how to transform active voice questions into passive voice, especially those beginning with "who," requires a grasp of grammatical structure and tense.
Understanding Passive Voice in Questions
Passive voice shifts the focus from the doer of the action (the agent) to the action itself and the recipient of that action (the object). In questions, this transformation involves specific changes, particularly when the active voice question starts with "who."
Transforming 'Who' Questions to Passive Voice
When a question begins with "who" in the active voice, "who" acts as the subject, inquiring about the agent performing the action. In the passive voice, the agent is often introduced by "by." Therefore, "who" transforms into "by whom" or, less formally, "who...by."
- Active Voice (Agent Unknown): Who did this?
- Passive Voice (Agent Introduced): By whom was this done?
This structure ensures that the passive construction correctly frames the question about the agent.
Present Perfect Tense in Passive Voice
The original question, "Who has broken the chair?", is in the present perfect tense (has/have + past participle). When converting to passive voice, this tense maintains its structure while incorporating "been" and the past participle of the main verb.
The general formula for present perfect passive is: has/have + been + past participle of the main verb.
Let's break down the transformation:
- Identify the Tense: The active sentence "Who has broken the chair?" is in the present perfect tense.
- Identify the Object: "The chair" is the object in the active sentence, which becomes the subject in the passive sentence.
- Change 'Who' to 'By whom': Since "who" is the subject (doer) in the active voice, it becomes the agent in the passive voice and is preceded by "by."
- Apply Passive Verb Form: For the present perfect tense, the passive form is "has/have + been + past participle." Since "the chair" is singular, we use "has been broken."
- Construct the Question: Combine these elements to form the passive question.
Active: Who has broken the chair?
Passive: By whom has the chair been broken?
Practical Examples of Active to Passive Voice (Questions)
Here's a table illustrating how different "who" questions in various tenses are converted to passive voice:
| Active Voice Question | Passive Voice Question | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Who broke the window? (Simple Past) | By whom was the window broken? | Simple past passive: was/were + past participle |
| Who will write the report? (Simple Future) | By whom will the report be written? | Simple future passive: will be + past participle |
| Who is singing that song? (Present Cont.) | By whom is that song being sung? | Present continuous passive: is/am/are being + past participle |
| Who built this ancient city? (Simple Past) | By whom was this ancient city built? | Focus on the recipient (city) |
Understanding these transformations helps in clearly communicating actions where the agent is either unknown, unimportant, or intentionally deemphasized.
