A sentence is given in the active voice. Choose the option that best expresses the same idea in the passive voice: "They renovated the restaurant in 2017."

Introduction / Context:
This question checks your ability to convert a simple past sentence from active to passive voice. The active sentence is: They renovated the restaurant in 2017. Passive voice is often used when we want to focus on the object of an action, in this case the restaurant, rather than on the doer, they. Examinations frequently include such basic voice transformation items to ensure that students understand the structure was or were plus past participle.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Active subject: They.
• Active verb: renovated (simple past).
• Object: the restaurant.
• Time expression: in 2017.
• We must form a passive sentence with the restaurant as the subject.

Concept / Approach:
To change a simple past transitive sentence into passive voice, we use the pattern: object + was or were + past participle + by + subject. Since the restaurant is singular, it takes was, and the past participle of renovate is renovated. The agent phrase by them can be kept if we wish to mention who did the renovation. The time expression in 2017 stays at the end of the sentence. Therefore, the correct passive sentence is: The restaurant was renovated by them in 2017.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the object the restaurant in the active sentence and make it the subject of the passive sentence. Step 2: Determine the correct form of the verb be in the simple past for a singular subject, which is was. Step 3: Use the past participle renovated, giving was renovated as the passive verb phrase. Step 4: Add the agent phrase by them to indicate who did the renovation, and keep the time phrase in 2017 at the end. Step 5: Write the full passive sentence: The restaurant was renovated by them in 2017, and match it with the given options.

Verification / Alternative check:
Compare the meaning of the active and passive sentences. They renovated the restaurant in 2017 and The restaurant was renovated by them in 2017 both describe the same completed action taking place in that year, with only the focus shifting from they to the restaurant. The tense is preserved as simple past, and the object and subject roles are reversed appropriately. None of the other options maintain this straightforward, correct structure, which confirms that Option A is the correct passive transformation.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Renovating the restaurant was done by them in 2017.: This is grammatically possible but stylistically awkward and wordy. Examinations prefer the simpler and more natural was renovated structure.
The renovated restaurant was by them in 2017.: This is incomplete and ungrammatical; was must be followed by a complement, and by them alone does not explain what happened.
The restaurant in 2017 was being renovated by them.: This changes the tense to past continuous (was being renovated) and also breaks the natural order by placing in 2017 in the middle, altering the original simple past meaning.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes overcomplicate passive forms by using nominalisations like renovating of or by adding unnecessary words such as done by, which make the sentence clumsy. Another mistake is changing the tense from simple past to past continuous or present perfect when there is no need. To avoid errors, always identify the original tense and keep the transformation as close as possible to the simple be + past participle pattern, unless the question specifically requires a different nuance.

Final Answer:
The correct passive form of the sentence is The restaurant was renovated by them in 2017.