Choose the correct passive of the given sentence from the options that follow: The mason is building the wall.

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is 3:
The correct option is 3: The wall is being built by the mason.

The sentence given in the active voice is, "The mason is building the wall." When transforming a sentence from active voice to passive voice, two fundamental rules must be strictly followed: first, the object of the active sentence must become the subject of the passive sentence, and second, the tense of the verb must be retained. In this case, "The wall" is the object, and "The mason" is the subject (the doer of the action). The tense used in the active sentence is the Present Continuous Tense, indicated by the structure: Subject + is/am/are + verb (-ing form) + Object. When converting a Present Continuous Tense sentence into the passive voice, the correct structure is: New Subject (Active Object) + is/am/are + being + Past Participle (V3) + by + New Object (Active Subject). Since "The wall" is a singular subject, we use the auxiliary verb "is," followed by "being" to maintain the continuous aspect, and the past participle of "building," which is "built." Thus, "The wall is being built by the mason" perfectly adheres to the rules of tense and structure for the passive voice of a present continuous sentence. This transformation shifts the focus from the agent ("the mason") to the action being performed on the recipient ("the wall") while confirming that the action is currently in progress.

The incorrect option is 1: The wall is built by the mason.
This option uses the Simple Present Passive structure (is/am/are + V3). While it correctly identifies the new subject ("The wall") and new object ("the mason"), it fails to retain the original tense. The original sentence is in the Present Continuous Tense ("is building"), meaning the action is happening now. Option 1, which represents the Simple Present Tense, implies a habitual action or a general fact, which changes the meaning of the original sentence.

The incorrect option is 2: The wall was being built by the mason.
This option uses the Past Continuous Passive structure (was/were + being + V3). By changing the auxiliary verb from "is" to "was," this option incorrectly shifts the tense from the Present Continuous to the Past Continuous. This means the action occurred in the past and was ongoing at a certain time, which contradicts the present tense of the original active sentence.

The incorrect option is 4: The wall has been built by the mason.
This option uses the Present Perfect Passive structure (has/have + been + V3). This tense is used to describe an action that started in the past and is either still continuing or has just finished. This structure completely changes the original tense from the Present Continuous to the Present Perfect, fundamentally altering the time frame and meaning of the sentence from an action currently in progress to an action completed in the recent past.