In this voice transformation question, choose the active voice sentence that correctly expresses the meaning of the passive sentence "An elephant may be helped even by an ant."

Introduction / Context:
This question assesses your ability to convert a passive sentence into a correct and natural active voice sentence without changing the meaning. The given passive sentence is "An elephant may be helped even by an ant." It expresses a general truth or proverb like idea, suggesting that even a very small creature can help a very large one. You must find the active version that preserves both the modal verb and the emphasis.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Passive sentence: "An elephant may be helped even by an ant."
• Passive subject: "An elephant".
• Agent introduced by "by": "an ant".
• Modal verb: "may".
• Main verb in passive: "be helped".
• We must make "an ant" the subject of the active sentence and keep "may" as the modal.

Concept / Approach:
To convert from passive to active voice, we move the agent of the action (the "by" phrase) to subject position, keep the modal verb, and change "be helped" to the base verb "help". The phrase "even by an ant" in passive becomes "Even an ant" at the beginning of the active sentence to maintain emphasis. We must also ensure that articles before "elephant" and "ant" are correct and that the modal "may" is preserved, since it expresses possibility rather than certainty or obligation.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the agent in the passive sentence. "By an ant" indicates that the ant is the one doing the helping. Step 2: Move this agent to the subject position in the active sentence. We begin with "Even an ant". Step 3: Retain the modal verb "may" to keep the same degree of possibility. Step 4: Convert "be helped" to the base verb "help". Thus the verb phrase becomes "may help". Step 5: Place the original passive subject "an elephant" as the object of the verb in the active sentence: "Even an ant may help an elephant."

Verification / Alternative check:
Examine each option. Option C reads "Even an ant may help an elephant." This matches the structure we derived and maintains the proverb like emphasis that even a very small creature can be of help. Option A uses "can" instead of "may" and incorrectly uses "a elephant" instead of "an elephant". Option B keeps "may" but again says "a elephant", which is grammatically wrong. Option D changes the modal to "ought to", implying duty or obligation rather than possibility, and therefore changes the meaning. Hence, option C is the correct active voice equivalent.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A changes the modal from "may" to "can", which shifts the nuance from possibility to ability, and also has an article error.

Option B keeps the modal but still has the incorrect article "a elephant".

Option D uses "ought to", implying moral duty, which does not match the original sense of mere possibility.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes treat "can" and "may" as interchangeable, but exam setters often expect precise preservation of modals during voice transformation. Another common error is to overlook article usage, especially before words beginning with vowel sounds such as "elephant". When converting voice, always check three things: the subject and object swap, the correct base form of the verb, and the preservation of tense and modal auxiliaries.

Final Answer:
The correct active voice sentence is "Even an ant may help an elephant."