Choose the correct passive voice form of the sentence: "The bullet hit the soldier in the arm."

Introduction / Context:
Active and passive voice transformations are a fundamental part of English grammar questions. In passive voice, the focus of the sentence shifts from the doer of the action to the receiver of the action. Here, the original active sentence is “The bullet hit the soldier in the arm.” The question asks you to select the correct passive voice form, maintaining tense and meaning while changing the structure appropriately.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Active sentence: “The bullet hit the soldier in the arm.”
• Subject in active voice: the bullet.
• Object in active voice: the soldier (in the arm is a prepositional phrase giving more detail).
• The tense of the verb hit here is simple past.
• We must keep the same meaning and time reference in the passive sentence.

Concept / Approach:
To change from active to passive voice, the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence, the main verb is changed to the appropriate form of be + past participle, and the original subject is introduced with by if needed. In this case, the soldier is the receiver of the action and should therefore become the subject in the passive form. The verb hit in the simple past becomes was hit. The phrase in the arm remains as additional information, and the bullet can be added after by to indicate the agent. Thus, the correct passive form is “The soldier was hit in the arm by the bullet.”

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the object in the active sentence: the soldier.Step 2: Bring the object to the subject position in the passive sentence: “The soldier …”Step 3: Retain the tense. The verb hit is in simple past, so the passive auxiliary should be was, giving was hit.Step 4: Keep the additional information “in the arm” after the verb phrase: “The soldier was hit in the arm …”Step 5: Introduce the original subject with by: “by the bullet.”Step 6: The complete passive sentence is “The soldier was hit in the arm by the bullet,” which matches option B.

Verification / Alternative check:
Compare option B with the structure of standard passive sentences: Subject + was/were + past participle + (by + agent). “The soldier” is the subject, “was hit” is the past passive verb, “in the arm” is a prepositional phrase, and “by the bullet” correctly indicates the agent. The meaning is unchanged: the soldier received a bullet hit on the arm. The tense remains simple past. None of the other options meet all these requirements simultaneously. Therefore, option B is confirmed as the correct passive transformation.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

• Option A is awkward and ungrammatical: “Hitting in the arm of the soldier has been done by the bullet” misuses the gerund and changes the tense.
• Option C, “The bullet has hit it in the arm of the soldier,” introduces it and changes the structure, making the meaning unclear and the tense present perfect.
• Option D, “The arm of the soldier is being hit by a bullet,” changes the tense to present continuous and shifts the focus unnaturally to the arm rather than the soldier.
• Option E, “In the arm the bullet was hitting the soldier,” is awkward, changes aspect and alters the normal word order for passive voice.

Common Pitfalls:
A frequent mistake is to forget to maintain the original tense when changing to passive voice or to create unnatural constructions that technically use a form of be + past participle but sound awkward. Another pitfall is ignoring word order and emphasis, placing less important details in the subject position. To avoid errors, always follow the steps: make the object the subject, match the tense with the correct form of be, use the past participle and optionally include the original subject with by. Practising with many examples will make this process automatic.

Final Answer:
The correct passive voice form is The soldier was hit in the arm by the bullet.