Anonymous  +  114227 Fri, 01 Jul 05 11:08 AM I have been doing some English tests (for admission in a University, mark you), and the second part of these tests consists of a grammatical section. The third part of the grammatical section is Error Identification. The directions read as follows: Some of the sentences below contain an error in the grammar, usage, word choice or idiom. For each sentence, select the one underlined part that contains the mistake and then, on your answer sheet, fill in the space that corresponds to the letter of the answer you have chosen. If there is no error in the sentence, mark answer D. And here is the sentence that troubles me: Today's problems (A) are different from those that (B) we faced when we were younger; they appear to be less involved (C). No error (D) I was quite sure that the mistake was in C and that the correct form should be 'less invloving' (viz. the problems). But the 'correct' answer according to the test booklet in D No Error. And so my question is, whether such a sentence is at all logically possible in English, or was I initially correct in pointing out the mistake? Anonymous Idioms, Grammar, Universities

	Vince  +  114275 Fri, 01 Jul 05 12:59 PM This is what I think, but I'm not a native speaker, so you need someone to check me ;-) "To be involved" is a passive voice, while "to be involving" is active. In this case, a passive voice needs to be used, because 'Today's problems', which is the subject in this sentence, 'undergoes' (can't find another word) the action of the verb 'appear'. This is all I know... let's hope someone else can explain it better than I ;-) Vince.. Vince Joined on Wed, Feb 23 2005 Germany Full Member 156 Verbs

	pieanne  +  114309 Fri, 01 Jul 05 03:09 PM I do agree with Guest. I really don't see how problems could appear/be "involved"?  Even "involving" would sound weird.     pieanne Joined on Thu, Jan 20 2005 South of France ...But I'm Belgian! Veteran Member 7,517 I'm glad to help, but I'm not a native! And please excuse my typos...

	Mister Micawber  +  114311 Fri, 01 Jul 05 03:15 PM The meaning is that today's problems are simpler (= less involved), if that helps you. Mister Micawber Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004 Yokohama Veteran Member 30,833 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

	pieanne  +  114314 Fri, 01 Jul 05 03:25 PM It does, MrM, thanks! (though I wouldn't say that they're simpler, on the contrary...)     pieanne

	pieanne  +  114365 Fri, 01 Jul 05 05:19 PM Yes, you're right, 'to involve' is transitive, but here it looks like the past participle is used as an adjective with 'to be', so you can't have an object. At the worst, it's in the passive voice, and again you can't have an object. pieanne