In this voice change question, the sentence "The class is required to watch a video tutorial every day." is given in passive voice. Choose the option that best expresses the same idea in active voice in natural, correct English.

Difficulty: Medium

Correct Answer: Every day the class watches a required video tutorial.

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
This is a voice change question where you must convert a passive sentence into a natural sounding active sentence. The given sentence is "The class is required to watch a video tutorial every day." In exams, such questions test whether you can preserve the meaning, tense and sense of obligation while changing the grammatical structure from passive to active voice. The focus is on clarity and correctness, not just mechanical conversion.


Given Data / Assumptions:

  • Passive sentence: "The class is required to watch a video tutorial every day."
  • The subject in passive is "The class".
  • The action is "to watch a video tutorial".
  • There is a sense of obligation indicated by "is required".
  • You must choose an active sentence that expresses that the class watches the video daily as a required activity.


Concept / Approach:
To convert passive to active, we generally identify who performs the action and make that the subject of the new sentence. In this case, the doer is already visible: "The class". The passive construction "is required to watch" expresses a duty or obligation, which in active voice can be rendered as a regular habit that is known to be compulsory. A natural active equivalent is therefore "Every day the class watches a required video tutorial", where "watches" is simple present tense denoting a regular action and "required" preserves the sense of obligation.


Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the subject and verb in the passive sentence. Subject: "The class"; passive phrase: "is required to watch".Step 2: Recognise that the underlying meaning is that the class has a daily duty to watch a video tutorial.Step 3: Change to an active pattern where "the class" directly performs the verb "watches".Step 4: Keep the time adverbial "every day" at the beginning or end of the sentence for emphasis on regularity.Step 5: Retain the sense of obligation by using "required" as an adjective modifying "video tutorial", giving "a required video tutorial". The resulting sentence is "Every day the class watches a required video tutorial."


Verification / Alternative check:
Check the tense and meaning. The original uses present passive "is required", describing a current, habitual requirement. In the active version, "watches" is simple present, also indicating a habit or daily routine. The requirement is still clear because the tutorial is described as "required". When you compare the two, both sentences say that it is compulsory for the class to watch the video tutorial daily. This confirms that the chosen active sentence is faithful to the original meaning.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A, "A video tutorial is required to be watched by the class every day", is another passive sentence, not an active one, and is also unnecessarily wordy. Option B, "A video tutorial is watched by the class every day", is passive and loses the explicit sense of requirement, sounding merely descriptive. Option D, "Every day the class is watching a required video tutorial", uses the present continuous tense, which suggests an action happening right now or temporarily, not a permanent daily requirement. It is therefore less appropriate as a general rule or instruction.


Common Pitfalls:
Many students simply look for a sentence that resembles the original without checking if it is actually in the active voice. Another common pitfall is ignoring the nuance of obligation expressed by words like "required", "supposed to" or "expected to". When changing voice, you must preserve not just the basic action but also the sense of duty, time reference and frequency. Always ensure that the new subject is performing the action directly and that the tense matches the original context.


Final Answer:
The best active voice equivalent is Every day the class watches a required video tutorial., which correctly expresses a daily, compulsory action performed by the class.

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