Question

Transform the following sentence into passive voice:

People advised us not to go out alone.

• A. We are advised not to go out alone.
  
• B. Not to go out alone people advised us.
  
• C. We were advised not to go out alone.
• D. We advised not to go out alone.
  

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

In active voice, the subject performs an action.
In passive voice, the subject receives the action.
The given sentence is in active voice; the subject 'People' performed the action 'advised' towards the object 'us'.
While changing from active to passive, the subject changes places with the object. Now, the subject is 'we' ('we' is the subject pronoun that refers to 'us').
Subject nouns like 'people', 'somebody', 'anybody', 'they' are general terms, and do not refer to a specific person, or group of people. Hence while changing the voice, the subject can be omitted in this case.
Also, the tense of the sentence remains the same, although the form of the verb changes.
Option C: This is the accurate conversion to the required voice. The tense remains the same, simple past tense 'advised' and 'were advised'. The new object now is 'we'. Hence option C is correct.
Option A: The subject still performs the action 'advised'. The sentence does not follow the required structure. As a result the sentence formed is incoherent in meaning.
Option B: 'Are' refers to the present tense, whereas the sentence is in past.
Option D: The meaning of the sentence has changed, and become an incomplete one as well. The subject 'we' still performs the action 'advised', and the object is not mentioned.
Hence options A, B and D are incorrect.