Question

Rewrite the following sentence by changing its voice (Active or Passive):
A stone struck me on the head.

• A. I am struck by a stone on the head.
• B. My head was struck by a stone.
• C. I had been struck by a stone on the head.
• D. I was struck on the head by a stone.

Answer 1

Answer: (D)

I was struck on the head by a stone.

A sentence is in the active voice when the subject performs an action.

A sentence is said to be in the passive voice when the subject receives an action.

The given sentence is in the active voice, as the subject 'stone' performs an action 'struck' against the object 'me on the head'.

If this sentence is changed to passive voice, then the subject is also changed, in order to retain the meaning of the sentence.

So, the object takes the place of the subject and vice versa and the word 'by' is introduced as now the subject receives the action by the object. The verb form of the sentence is also changed from active form to passive.

'Subject (A stone) + verb (struck) + object (me) + prepositional phrase (on the head)' changes to:

'New subject (I) + verb (was struck) + prepositional phrase (on the head) + by + new object (stone)'

The passive form of 'struck' in the simple past tense is 'was/were struck'. Since the subject 'I' is singular, the verb will also be singular 'was struck'.

This can be seen in option D, hence it's the right answer.

Option A: The tense of the sentence has changed from past 'struck' to the present tense 'am'. While changing the voice of the sentence, the tense does not change.

Option B: The object has been changed in the sentence. According to the preferred format, 'me' is the object here and 'on the head' is a prepositional phrase that tells us 'where'. It won't be modified to 'my head'.

Option C: The tense of the sentence as changed from simple past tense 'struck' to past perfect tense 'had been struck'.

Hence options A, B and C are incorrect.