My neighbours have asked us a big favour./A big favour has been asked to us by...

[dewedfrost]

1) My neighbours have asked us a big favour.
2) A big favour has been asked to us by my neighbours.
3) We have been asked a favour by my neighbours.

Hello! Can you help me, please? I have to turn 1) into passive. I think 3) is correct and natural.
I'm wondering if "to" in 2) is correct or optional. I have already searched for some suggestions on the net, but I'd like to learn your opinions. Thank you so much in advance.

 

[GoesStation]

Number 2 would be grammatically correct if you changed "to" to "of".

Number 3 is grammatical, but sentence 1 is more natural.

Exercises asking learners to convert good, active-voice sentences into the passive voice are a waste of time. They nearly always produce inferior sentences that native speakers who know how to write would never use.

 

[Tarheel]

1) My neighbours have asked us a big favour.
2) A big favour has been asked to us by my neighbours.
3) We have been asked a favour by my neighbours.

Hello! Can you help me, please? I have to turn 1) into passive voice. I don't understand why you have to do that.
I think 3) is correct and natural.
I'm wondering if "to" in 2) is correct or optional. I have already searched for some suggestions on the net, but I'd like to learn your opinions. Thank you so much in advance.

Goes is right, of course.

 

[tedmc]

We were required to do such exercises for English class in school. They are meant to help learners understand the concept of active and passive voice, more of an academic exercise than of practical use.

 

[Tdol]

Such exercises create the false impression that sentences can be swapped back and forth for no reason. The active and the passive are not some simple mathematical process that changes nothing.

 

[Rover_KE]

Regarding the passive voice, 5jj's post #4 here is an excellent summary of its usefulness.

 

[GoesStation]

Paradoxically, the passive voice can sometimes convey a much greater sense of agency than the active. Compare these:

• He perished.
• He was murdered.

 

[Tarheel]

Regarding the passive voice, 5jj's post #4 here is an excellent summary of its usefulness.

I like:

"People who use the passive ... generally produce the sentences in the passive. They do not produce an active sentence and then transform it."

 

[jutfrank]

Paradoxically, the passive voice can sometimes convey a much greater sense of agency than the active. Compare these:

• He perished.
• He was murdered.

Great point. I'll use that.