Question

Choose the most appropriate passive form for the given sentence:
Who taught her French?

• A. By whom was she taught French?
• B. Who is that who teach her French?
• C. Who is teaching her French?
• D. Whom has taught French to her?

Answer 1

The correct option is A By whom was she taught French?

In order to convert the given question into passive voice, let's understand the difference between active and passive voice.

Active voice emphasises on the person who does the action, whereas passive voice emphasises on the action itself. For example:

Active: The thief stole my car.

Passive: My car was stolen by the thief.

NOTE: In order to convert the given question into passive voice, we need to convert the subject 'who' into the object. And, as the question is in simple past tense, we will use 'was/were' and the verb in the past participle tense.

Option B - 'Who is that who teach her French?' This is in the active voice, as 'who' is still the subject of the interrogatory sentence. The question in the passive voice should be in the simple past tense and hence 'teach' can't be used. Also, 'that' is a determiner which can only be used in the passive voice if it exists in the active voice unless it indicates 'today-that day'. Thus option B is incorrect.

Option C - 'Who is teaching her French?' This question is in the active voice, as 'who' is the doer and the sentence places emphasis on the doer. Also, we need the passive voice in the simple past tense and not in present continuous tense. Thus option C is incorrect.

Option D - 'Whom has taught French to her? 'Whom' is used as the subject here, whereas 'whom' actually is the object form of the word 'who'. Also, the sentence has to be in the simple past tense and not present perfect tense. Thus option D is incorrect.

Option A - 'By whom was she taught French?' Here, 'whom' is used as the object instead of 'who'. The word 'by' explains that the sentence is in the passive voice. As explained above, we use 'was/were' and the verb in the past participle form to form the sentence in the simple past tense in the passive voice. Thus option A is the correct answer.

'By whom was she taught French?'