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English Grammar›Ch 12: Error Spotting & Improvement›Voice & Narration: Exam Practice
Master modals, interrogative passive, perfect continuous and exclamatory-optative narration
For voice and narration, apply strict tense shifting, modal transformations with be, and backshift rules for exclamatory sentences without missing any structural detail.
Memory Hooks
| Sentence Type | Active / Direct Form | Passive / Indirect Output |
|---|---|---|
| Modal | You must obey laws. | Laws must be obeyed. |
| Interrogative | Who broke this? | By whom was this broken? |
| Optative | He said, 'May you live!' | He prayed that I might live. |
Modal Passive
(Object becomes subject)
Object becomes subject
Can it be done?
No Passive
(Drop continuous tense)
Drop continuous tense
No passive exists here.
Interrogative
(Keep auxiliary first)
Keep auxiliary first
Is tea being drunk?
Exclamatory
(Remove exclamation mark)
Remove exclamation mark
He cried out in joy.
He said, Alas I am ruined!He exclaimed with sorrow that he was ruined.
Never retain exclamation marks or direct punctuation in indirect speech.
Tea is being been made.Tea is being made.
Do not combine continuous 'being' with perfect 'been' in any passive form.
By who was the match won?By whom was the match won?
Who changes to 'By whom' in interrogative passive, not 'By who'.
Q1.Choose the correct passive form of: 'You must finish this assignment today.'
Q2.Choose the correct indirect narration of: He said, 'What a wonderful sculpture!'