Pemmican  +  5400 Sat, 23 Aug 03 06:46 PM I've learned at school, that there's no passive for Perfect Progressive Tenses, is that true? Actually I wouldn't be surprised, if there is - so can I e.g. say "A letter has been being written by Tom" being passive of "Tom has been writing a letter" or "A letter will have been being written by Tom" passive of "Tom will have been writing a letter"? Thanks for your help! Pemmican Pemmican Joined on Thu, Aug 21 2003 Regular Member 569 Wâ mag ich mich nu vinden? wâ mac ich mich nu suochen, wâ? nu bin ich hie und bin ouch dâ und enbin doch weder dâ noch hie. wer wart ouch sus verirret ie? wer wart ie sus... Tenses, Perfect Progressive

	maj  +  5402 Sat, 23 Aug 03 06:53 PM No, the passive sentences are not correct. They cannot be used like that. Why would you want to make them passive? Isn't Tom more important than the letter? Why is the letter so important? maj Joined on Mon, Mar 31 2003 Senior Member 4,756 Tenses, Passive Sentences, Perfect Progressive

	Pemmican  +  5405 Sat, 23 Aug 03 07:14 PM I don't want to make them passive, I just wanted to know if there really is no passive form for those Perfect Progressive tenses while every other tense has a passive voice though. E.g. Present: "Tom writes a letter" --> "A letter is written by Tom" Present Progressive: "Tom is writing a letter" --> "A letter is being written by Tom" Present Perfect: "Tom has written a letter" --> "A letter has been written by Tom" so as a logical conclusion, I thought, there maybe could be a passive also for Present Perfect Progressive - and just because of the fact that passive is built by forms of "to be"+past participle, I concluded, it could be "have been being+past participle", equal to the other passives. Is it also not possible to say "A letter will be being written by Tom", passive of "Tom will be writing a letter", built equal to Present or Past Progressive tense? ) Thanks for your help! Pemmican Present Progressive, Tenses, Present Perfect, Perfect Progressive

	kitkattail  +  5418 Sat, 23 Aug 03 08:19 PM You're right: it's the logical thing to assume. Unfortunately, languages aren't always logical. It makes sense, but that's just not the way it is. What you were taught is correct: there are no passives for these tenses. kitkattail Joined on Tue, Aug 12 2003 Toronto Full Member 400 www.kitkattail.blogspot.com Tenses, Perfect Progressive

	Pemmican  +  5420 Sat, 23 Aug 03 08:31 PM Thanks very much, kitkattail. I place in, a passive like that sounded quite weird - but it could have been possible nevertheless so I just wanted to have a certainty. Pemmican Tenses, Perfect Progressive

	kitkattail  +  5422 Sat, 23 Aug 03 08:40 PM Understandable. It never hurts to make sure. I commend you for asking a hypothetical question merely out of interest! I wish more people would do that. kitkattail Tenses, Perfect Progressive

	Pemmican  +  5452 Sun, 24 Aug 03 02:59 AM I often ask questions just out of interest I also regard language as a kind of tool or toy - you've to work with it, test it, and also play with it --> esp. Puns! => trying to find out how to use it and how it works (for you). In my opinion, that's one of the best ways of getting used to a language, no matter if it's your mother tongue or a foreign language. Pemmican Regards, Tenses, Perfect Progressive

	kitkattail  +  5471 Sun, 24 Aug 03 07:22 AM That's good advice for someone learning a foreign language. What is your first language, then? How long have you been speaking English? (Your English is really good, by the way.) kitkattail Tenses, Perfect Progressive, Speaking English

	Pemmican  +  5509 Sun, 24 Aug 03 07:59 PM Oops, sorry I haven't mentioned that yet. I'm from Germany and I've learned English at school for 9 years (even though I didn't do very much for it in the first years). I finished school 3 years ago and I'm afraid my English will get worse, so I always try to practise and improve it (what could be better than an English discussion forum? *g*) Thank you for saying my English is good, I just try to do my best and hope it'll be understood... Pemmican Tenses, Perfect Progressive