Read the following pairs:
Identify the pair(s) wherein the Passive Voice is correctly stated and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
NDA English · 14 questions · 2017 to 2026
NDA Voice and narration previous year questions with solutions
Voice and narration is a new section of the English paper: absent to 2024, three or four questions a sitting since 2025, first as four rewritten sentences, then from 2026 as pairs to judge. Every question UPSC has set on it since 2017, solved. Grouped by the method each needs, newest first; open a question for its answer and worked solution.
UPSC's instruction: Following items have sentences in active voice with four options. One of the options converts the active voice into passive voice correctly. Select the most appropriate option.
10.1 Active and passive voice (5)10.2 Direct to indirect speech: statements (2)10.3 Direct to indirect speech: questions, commands and requests (3)10.4 Direct to indirect speech: exclamations, wishes and universal truths (3)10.5 Indirect to direct speech (1)
10.1 Active and passive voice
1. NDA 2026 (II)
Figure: table (ruled grid, italic headers): (blank) | Active Voice | Passive Voice; I. | These grapes taste sour. | These grapes are sour when they are tasted. ; II. | Forget the past. | Let the past be forgotten.
Answer and solution
Answer: (b) II only
Method. Passive of linking verbs and of imperatives (Wren & Martin)
Pair I: 'taste' here is an intransitive linking verb ('taste sour' = are sour), so it has no object and no passive; 'are sour when they are tasted' changes the meaning. Pair II: an imperative 'Forget the past' has the standard passive 'Let the past be forgotten'. So II only.
2. NDA 2026 (II)
Read the following pairs:
Identify the pair(s) wherein the Passive Voice is correctly stated and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
Identify the pair(s) wherein the Passive Voice is correctly stated and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
Figure: table (ruled grid, italic headers): (blank) | Active Voice | Passive Voice; I. | They asked me my name. | My name was asked by them. ; II. | They found him guilty. | He found them guilty.
Answer and solution
Answer: (d) Neither I nor II
Method. Passive with two objects; passive requires a transitive active (Wren & Martin)
Pair I: 'They asked me my name' has two objects. The textbook passives are 'I was asked my name by them' or 'My name was asked of me by them'. 'My name was asked by them' drops the person asked, so it is incomplete. Pair II: 'He found them guilty' only swaps subject and object in the active; it is not a passive. Neither pair is correct.
3. NDA 2026 (I)
Read the following pairs:
Identify the pair(s) wherein the Passive Voice is correctly stated and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
Identify the pair(s) wherein the Passive Voice is correctly stated and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
Figure: table (two columns, no rules, italic headers): (blank) | Active Voice | Passive Voice; I. | They laughed at his warnings and objected to all his proposals. | His warnings were laughed at and his proposals were objected to. ; II. | Do not insult the weak. | You are advised to not insult the weak.
Answer and solution
Answer: (a) I only
Method. Passive of verbs with prepositions; passive of a negative command (Wren & Martin)
Pair I: 'laughed at' and 'objected to' keep their prepositions in the passive: 'His warnings were laughed at and his proposals were objected to' (the determiner 'all' is dropped, which narrows the match slightly, but the structure is the textbook one). Pair II: the active command 'Do not insult the weak' has the standard passive 'Let the weak not be insulted' or 'You are advised not to insult the weak'. 'To not insult' is a split infinitive, and the standard rendering puts 'not' before 'to' ('not to insult'), so II is not correctly stated. So I only.
4. NDA 2025 (II)
The king who the people loved built the castle five centuries ago
Answer and solution
Answer: (a) The castle was built five centuries ago by the king who was loved by the people
Method. Active to passive with a relative clause (Wren & Martin)
Main clause: 'the king built the castle' becomes 'the castle was built … by the king'. The relative clause 'who the people loved' (= whom the people loved) becomes 'who was loved by the people'. (b) reverses who loves whom; (d) reverses both agents; (c) has no finite verb.
5. NDA 2025 (II)
The company has recruited four hundred engineers who will have to complete an internship for three weeks
Answer and solution
Answer: (a) Four hundred engineers have been recruited by the company and an internship of three weeks will have to be completed by them
Method. Active to passive in both clauses (Wren & Martin)
'The company has recruited four hundred engineers' becomes 'Four hundred engineers have been recruited by the company' (present perfect passive: have been + past participle). 'who will have to complete an internship' becomes '… an internship … will have to be completed by them'. (c) reverses the agents; (d) 'will have had to be' is the wrong tense. (b) turns only the first clause into the passive and leaves 'they will have to complete' active, so the sentence is not fully converted; (a) converts both verbs.
Shortcut. Judge the option whose every verb is passive.
10.2 Direct to indirect speech: statements
6. NDA 2025 (II)
Convert from direct into indirect speech.
Ayushi said to the group, “We have had enough of suffering today. It is time to march forward.”
Ayushi said to the group, “We have had enough of suffering today. It is time to march forward.”
Answer and solution
Answer: (a) Ayushi told the group that they had had enough of suffering that day and it was time to march forward
Method. Direct to indirect: statement; this day becomes that day (Wren & Martin)
'said to' becomes 'told'. 'We' becomes 'they' (the group). 'Have had' backshifts to 'had had'. 'Today' becomes 'that day'. 'It is' becomes 'it was'. Only (a) does all of this: (b) 'asked' is wrong; (c) does not backshift 'have' and keeps 'is'; (d) leaves 'we' and 'this day'.
7. NDA 2025 (I)
Convert from direct speech to indirect speech:
Charu said to her friend, “I want you to be here at 6.00 p.m. tomorrow for the meeting.”
Charu said to her friend, “I want you to be here at 6.00 p.m. tomorrow for the meeting.”
Answer and solution
Answer: (a) Charu told her friend that she wanted her to be there at 6.00 p.m. the next day for the meeting
Method. Direct to indirect: statement with 'said to' (Wren & Martin)
Reporting verb 'said to' becomes 'told'. Pronouns: I (Charu) becomes she, you becomes her. Time and place words: here becomes there, tomorrow becomes the next day. 'Want' backshifts to 'wanted'. Only (a) does all of this; (b) keeps 'tomorrow'; (c) 'requested … that she wanted' mixes a request verb with a statement; (d) 'will want' and 'here' are not shifted correctly.
10.3 Direct to indirect speech: questions, commands and requests
8. NDA 2026 (II)
Read the following pairs:
Identify the pair(s) wherein the Indirect Speech is correctly stated and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
Identify the pair(s) wherein the Indirect Speech is correctly stated and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
Figure: table (ruled grid, italic headers): (blank) | Direct Speech | Indirect Speech; I. | He said to him, “Wait here until I return.” | He ordered him to wait here until he returned. ; II. | He said, “Alas! I am undone.” | He exclaimed sadly that he was undone.
Answer and solution
Answer: (b) II only
Method. Reporting a command; here becomes there; exclamation with sorrow (Wren & Martin)
Pair I: 'ordered … to wait' is right for a command, but the adverb 'here' should change to 'there' in reported speech, so 'wait here' is not correctly stated. Pair II: 'Alas!' is an exclamation of sorrow, reported as 'exclaimed sadly (with sorrow) that he was undone', with 'I am' backshifted to 'he was'. Correct. So II only.
9. NDA 2026 (I)
Read the following pairs:
Identify the pair(s) wherein the Indirect Speech is correctly stated and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
Identify the pair(s) wherein the Indirect Speech is correctly stated and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
Figure: table (two columns, no rules, italic headers): (blank) | Direct Speech | Indirect Speech; I. | The policeman said to us, “Where are you going?” | The policeman asked where were we going. ; II. | “Call the first witness”, said the Judge. | The Judge said them to call the witness first.
Answer and solution
Answer: (d) Neither I nor II
Method. Reporting a question and a command (Wren & Martin)
Pair I: a reported question takes statement order and an object after 'asked': 'The policeman asked us where we were going'. 'Asked where were we going' keeps the question order, so it is wrong. Pair II: the command 'Call the first witness' is reported with 'ordered/asked … to call': 'The Judge ordered them to call the first witness'. 'Said them to call the witness first' uses the wrong reporting verb and reorders 'first witness'. Neither is correct.
10. NDA 2025 (II)
Convert from direct speech into indirect speech.
“Where were you last week?” Alok asked Sheela
“Where were you last week?” Alok asked Sheela
Answer and solution
Answer: (b) Alok asked Sheela where she had been the week before
Method. Direct to indirect: wh-question (Wren & Martin)
'Asked' stays 'asked' (not 'told'); the question becomes a statement order; 'you' becomes 'she'; 'were' backshifts to 'had been'; 'last week' becomes 'the week before'. (a) uses 'told'; (c) does not backshift 'was'; (d) keeps 'the last week'. So (b).
10.4 Direct to indirect speech: exclamations, wishes and universal truths
11. NDA 2026 (II)
Read the following pairs:
Identify the pair(s) wherein the Indirect Speech is correctly stated and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
Identify the pair(s) wherein the Indirect Speech is correctly stated and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
Figure: table (ruled grid, italic headers): (blank) | Direct Speech | Indirect Speech; I. | He said, “Bravo! You have written the best answer.” | He applauded him saying that he had written the best answer. ; II. | “The sun rises in the East,” said the teacher. | The teacher said that the sun rose in the East.
Answer and solution
Answer: (a) I only
Method. Reporting an interjection; a universal truth is not backshifted (Wren & Martin)
Pair I: 'Bravo!' is an exclamation of applause, so 'applauded' is the right verb; 'You have written' becomes 'he had written'. Correct. Pair II: 'The sun rises in the East' is a universal truth, so the tense stays in the present: 'said that the sun rises in the East'. 'Rose' is wrong. So I only.
12. NDA 2025 (II)
Convert from direct speech into indirect speech.
“Alas! We lost the match by one point,” said the Captain
“Alas! We lost the match by one point,” said the Captain
Answer and solution
Answer: (a) The Captain regretted that they had lost the match by one point
Method. Exclamation of sorrow ('Alas!') reported (Wren & Martin)
'Alas!' expresses grief, so the report carries the sense of sorrow: 'regretted' or 'exclaimed with sorrow'. 'We lost' backshifts to 'they had lost'. (b) keeps the simple past 'lost'; (d) invents 'told the team'. Between (a) and (c): (a) 'regretted' keeps the emotion that 'Alas!' carries, while (c) 'exclaimed' alone drops the sorrow. (a) is the better rendering.
13. NDA 2025 (I)
Convert from direct speech to indirect speech:
Nitin said to his brother, “What a beautiful painting it is?”
Nitin said to his brother, “What a beautiful painting it is?”
Answer and solution
Answer: (c) Nitin exclaimed that it is a beautiful painting
Method. Exclamatory sentence reported with 'exclaimed' (Wren & Martin)
'What a beautiful painting it is!' is an exclamation, so the reporting verb is 'exclaimed' and the form becomes a statement: 'exclaimed that it was (is) a beautiful painting'. (d) turns it into a question with 'asked … whether', which is wrong; (a) 'wondered … that what a' is ungrammatical; (b) 'wondered before' is not idiomatic and does not report an exclamation. No option gives the textbook 'exclaimed that it was a very beautiful painting'; (c) has the right verb and sentence type, and its present 'is' is allowed because the reported fact is still true (Thomson & Martinet: a present tense may stay unchanged when the statement is still true). It is the least faulty option.
10.5 Indirect to direct speech
14. NDA 2025 (I)
Convert from indirect speech to direct speech:
The teacher asked her students why they had been quiet in the previous class.
The teacher asked her students why they had been quiet in the previous class.
Answer and solution
Answer: (b) The teacher said to her students, “Why were you quiet in the previous class?”
Method. Indirect to direct: wh-question (Wren & Martin)
'asked' becomes 'said to'; the question is restored to direct order with 'you' for 'they'; the backshifted 'had been' returns to the simple past 'were'; 'the previous class' is kept. (a) keeps 'they' and a mismatched 'asked'; (d) drops the article 'the'; (c) keeps the past perfect 'had been', which a reverse conversion of a backshifted verb does not give. Only (b) is the standard rendering.