Choose the correct passive of the sentence :
He looked after the children well.

Question

Accepted Answer

Option 2, "The children were well looked after," is the correct passive form of the sentence "He looked after the children well." Here's why:

1. **Explanation for Option 2:**
   - In the active voice, the subject "He" performs the action of looking after the children. In the passive voice, the focus shifts to the object of the action, which is "the children."
   - The structure of a passive sentence typically follows the format: [Object] + [form of "to be"] + [past participle] + [additional information].
   - Applying this structure, "the children" becomes the subject of the passive sentence. "Were" is the past tense form of "to be" that matches the plural subject "the children." "Looked after" is the past participle phrase that describes the action. The adverb "well" is placed before "looked after" to maintain the original meaning and emphasis.
   - Therefore, "The children were well looked after" correctly conveys the intended meaning in passive voice.

2. **Explanation for why other options are incorrect:**

- **Option 1: "The children were looked well."**
     - This option is incorrect because it omits the phrase "looked after," which is essential to convey the meaning of being cared for. "Looked well" suggests a different meaning, implying that the children appeared healthy or good, rather than being cared for.

- **Option 3: "The children were treated well."**
     - While this option conveys a similar idea of care, it changes the verb from "looked after" to "treated." This alters the original meaning of the sentence, which specifically involves the action of looking after, not just treating well.

- **Option 4: "Well looked after the children were."**
     - This option is incorrect due to its awkward and incorrect word order. In English, the standard passive construction places the verb phrase after the subject, not before it. The sentence structure here is not grammatically correct in standard English.

In conclusion, Option 2 is the only choice that accurately transforms the original active sentence into a grammatically correct passive sentence while preserving the intended meaning.