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Convert the following sentence from active to passive voice: Please guide me.

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: You are requested to guide me.

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:

This question tests your understanding of active and passive voice, especially with polite requests using please. In many formal situations, we convert direct requests into passive structures beginning with you are requested or you are advised. The challenge here is to choose the passive sentence that best conveys the meaning of Please guide me in standard, polite English.


Given Data / Assumptions:

- Active sentence: Please guide me. - This is a polite imperative directed to an unnamed you. - Options provide different passive forms, all starting with you. - We must choose the form that correctly expresses a present polite request.


Concept / Approach:

Imperative sentences beginning with Please plus a verb can be converted into passive voice using the structure You are requested to plus base form of verb. This keeps the polite tone while making the sentence sound more formal and passive. The tense used is simple present, because the request exists in the present moment. Forms like have been requested or were requested suggest actions in the past, which would change the original meaning.


Step-by-Step Solution:

1. Identify the type of sentence: Please guide me is a polite imperative. 2. Recognize that in the passive, imperatives are often transformed into you are requested to plus the original verb. 3. The base verb is guide; therefore, the passive structure becomes you are requested to guide me. 4. Compare this with option A: You are requested to guide me. It matches the required structure exactly. 5. Option B, you have been requested to guide me, suggests that some third party already requested you earlier, which changes the time reference and adds an extra agent not mentioned in the original. 6. Option C, you were requested to guide me, also places the request in the past and suggests it may even be over. 7. Option D, you are being requested to guide me, is awkward and rarely used; it suggests an ongoing process of being requested, which does not match the simple imperative.


Verification / Alternative check:

One way to verify is to remove the word please and focus only on the command guide me. The passive form of guide me can be written as you are requested to guide me or I may be guided by you. In polite formal English, examination questions strongly prefer the structure you are requested to plus verb. Reintroducing please in the original simply signals that the tone is polite, which is nicely captured by the word requested in the passive version.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:

You have been requested to guide me: Indicates that some previous request already took place, and shifts the focus from a present request to past action. You were requested to guide me: Similarly, this refers entirely to past time and does not express the current polite request. You are being requested to guide me: Grammatically possible but stylistically unnatural in standard English; it suggests an ongoing process rather than a simple polite request.


Common Pitfalls:

Candidates sometimes choose perfect or continuous forms simply because they sound more complex. However, voice transformation of imperatives is usually straightforward. Remember that simple imperatives in the present correspond to simple present passive forms, especially in set phrases like you are requested to, you are advised to, and you are ordered to. Recognizing these patterns will help you answer similar questions quickly.


Final Answer:

The correct passive form of Please guide me is You are requested to guide me.

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