Select the option that expresses the given sentence in passive voice.
Who has told you to buy trash from the market?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The correct answer is option 2, i.e. “By whom have you been told to buy trash?”
The original sentence is:
“Who has told you to buy trash from the market?”
This is an active voice question, asking which person gave the instruction.
To convert this into passive voice, the structure changes to:
“By whom have you been told to [verb] …?”
Therefore, the correct passive construction is:
“By whom have you been told to buy trash?”
This retains the same meaning and uses the correct passive form (have been told) with the preposition 'by' introducing the original subject.
Why the other options are incorrect:
“The buying of trash has been told by whom?” – This uses a noun form ('the buying') and is not how we form passive questions.
“By whom had you been told to buy trash?” – Uses the past perfect ('had been told') which does not match the original present perfect 'has told'.
“Who could tell you to buy trash?” – A different modal construction and active voice; not a passive equivalent.