Question

Choose the correct passive form of past tense from the options given below:
The rat ___ by the cat last night.

• A. were chased
• B. chases
• C. was chased
• D. was chasing

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

was chased

A sentence in passive voice focuses on the person or thing that receives an action rather than the person/thing that performs the action.
For example, 'My room was cleaned by me.'
The basic structure of passive voice is:
the appropriate form of the verb 'to be' + past participle
Option C: The given sentence states a past event "last night". Hence it's in simple past tense. So, the simple past form of 'to be', 'was' is used.
'Was chased' is the appropriate structure, formed by the past tense verb 'was' + past participle (chased). Hence option C is correct.
Option A: 'Were' is a plural verb whereas the subject (the rat) is singular. The subject and verb must agree with one another in terms of number. Hence A is incorrect.
Option B: 'Chases' is a verb in the active form: The rat chases... . It changes the subject "rat" to perform, rather than receive, the action. Hence B is incorrect.
Option D: 'Was chasing' is not the correct verb form used in the passive voice. 'Chasing' is a present participle that changes the voice of the sentence to active. Hence D is incorrect.