Question

We played all day, talked all night, and generally enjoyed one another's company. How would the above sentence, written in active voice, best be translated into passive voice?
a.We played and talked, and everyone had a good time.
b.Play was indulged, talk was engaged in, and a good time was had by all.
c.We play all day, talk all night, and generally enjoy one another's company.
d.We had played all day and talked all night; we generally enjoyed one another's company.

Answer 1

To answer this question, we first have to be clear about what the passive voice is.

In the active voice, the subject is also the one who does the action. For example: I kicked the ball. In this sentence, the subject is "I." The subject is performing the action of kicking. 

In the passive voice, however, the subject is not the doer. Instead, the subject of the sentence is acted upon. Consider this example: The ball was kicked by me. The subject is "the ball." Of course, the ball is not doing the kicking. Rather, the ball is being acted upon -- it is being kicked BY someone.

A major clue that the passive voice is being used is the presence of a being verb. A being verb is any form of the verb "to be" -- am, is, are, was, were, be, being, or been.

Now, in the above examples, only option B. appears to have a being verb. However, let's double check.

In the other options, the pronoun "We" is the subject, and "we" are the ones playing, talking, and enjoying. That means answers A, C, and D. are all rewritten in the active voice.

In option B, "Play," "talk" and "a good time" are the subjects of the sentence. Of course, these things can do nothing on their own. This sentence also has being verbs present (the verb "was"), meaning this sentence is written in the passive voice.

For this reason, option B. is the correct answer.

Answer 2

The answer is B.Play was indulged, talk was engaged in, and a good time was had by all.