We have partnered with TradePub to bring you free industry magazines and resources - no coupons or credit cards required!

Visit: englishforums.tradepub.com


Share this topic:
This question is Not Answered
Latest post Fri, Jan 18 2008 2:09 PM by Feebs11. 4 replies.
Suggest an answer | | |
Lollipop^^  +  465701 Fri, 18 Jan 08 06:35 AM

As you know, we can never transform the followings to 'passive voices' because they have no objective on the sentences.

1) The sun rised.

2) He lied in the bed.

On the other hand, what if the sentences is like these?

1) A gentleman spoke to her.

2) We can't think of such a thing.

3) We have never heard of him since.

4) No one has ever spoken to me like that before.

5) People speak well of him.

6) I gave up this job.

As I know, the forms of the verbs are one of these : 1) transitive verb + adverb, 2) intransitive verb + preposition

In this case, is it possible that we use them like the followings?

1) She was spoken to by a gentleman.

2) Such a thing can't be thought of by us.

3) He have never been heard of by us since.

4) I never have been spoken to by anyone like that before.

5) He is spoken well of by people.

6) This job was gaven up by me.

Joined on Mon, Jan 14 2008
New Member 06
Feebs11  +  465794 Fri, 18 Jan 08 11:58 AM

As you know, we can never transform the followings to 'passive voices' because they have no objective on the sentences.

1) The sun rised.  rises OR rose

2) He lied in the bed.  Lies OR layed

On the other hand, what if the sentences is like these?

1) A gentleman spoke to her.

2) We can't think of such a thing.

3) We have never heard of him since.

4) No one has ever spoken to me like that before.

5) People speak well of him.

6) I gave up this job.

As I know, the forms of the verbs are one of these : 1) transitive verb + adverb, 2) intransitive verb + preposition

In this case, is it possible that we use them like the followings?

1) She was spoken to by a gentleman.   Yes [Y]

2) Such a thing can't be thought of by us.  Yes [Y]

3) He have never been heard of by us since. Yes [Y]

4) I never have been spoken to by anyone like that before. Yes [Y]

5) He is spoken well of by people. Yes [Y]

6) This job was gaven up by me.  Yes [Y]  given up


Joined on Thu, Nov 23 2006
UK
Veteran Member 5,015
Cool Breeze  +  465813 Fri, 18 Jan 08 12:50 PM
 Feebs11 wrote:

2) He lied in the bed.  Lies OR layed


Hi Feebs

Layed is not English. Smile [:)] He lay in bed.

Cf.: I laid my money on the table.

CB
Joined on Fri, Apr 7 2006
Senior Member 3,970
"I hope you'll all live to be 150 years old - and the last voice you hear is mine!" Frank Sinatra on stage in Oslo, Norway, 28 September 1991
Yankee  +  465835 Fri, 18 Jan 08 01:37 PM
Here are a few more comments:

1) She was spoken to by a gentleman.   OK

2) Such a thing can't be thought of by us.  Grammatical, but to me it's unnatural.

3) He has never been heard of by us since. With the word 'since' in the sentence, it seems to me you should say 'heard from' rather than 'heard of'.  If the idea of 'us' is important, I would not use this passive sentence -- I'd use the active version instead.  If 'we' is not important, then omit 'by us'.

4) I never have been spoken to by anyone like that before. I'd simply omit 'by anyone' -- its placement is awkward in the sentence and it really isn't necessary anyway.

5) He is spoken well of by people. 'By people' is completely unnecessary.  Leave it out.

6) This job was given up by me.  Grammatical, but not natural as a passive sentence.


Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006
Connecticut, USA
Veteran Member 6,494
Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain
Feebs11  +  465845 Fri, 18 Jan 08 02:09 PM
 Cool Breeze wrote:
 Feebs11 wrote:

2) He lied in the bed.  Lies OR layed


Hi Feebs

Layed is not English. Smile [:)] He lay in bed.

Cf.: I laid my money on the table.

CB


Embarrassed [:$]

My excuse is that I had been watching a programme about hens.
© MediaCet Ltd. 2009, v5.0.3607.32596. All content posted by our users is a contribution to the public domain, this does not include imported usenet posts.*
For web related enquires please contact us on webmaster@mediacet.com, status updates are available at status.mediacet.com.
*Usenet post removal: Use 'X-No-Archive'. You may not have understood that your posts would end up in the public domain. Please send proof of the poster's email, we will remove immediately.