Question

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

• A. arrested
• B. was arrested
• C. were arrested
• D. was arrest

Answer 1

Answer: (B)

was arrested

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 B: The given sentence states an event in the past "last night".
'Was arrested' is the appropriate structure, formed by the past tense verb 'was' + past participle (arrested). Hence option B is correct.
Option A: 'Arrested' is a past participle which requires a helping verb (auxiliary: was) to help determine the tense. Without this helping verb, the sentence sounds incomplete. Hence A is incorrect.
Option C: 'Were' is a plural verb whereas the subject 'terrorist' is singular. Hence C is incorrect.
Option D: 'Arrest' in 'was arrest' is grammatically incorrect. Since the helping verb 'was' is in the past tense, the past tense form of the main verb 'arrested' must be used. 'Arrest' is the base verb that does not express the tense. Hence D is incorrect.