Subject to/Subjected to

Hi, Krish

The below is a QA in The Grammar Logs in Guide to Grammar & Writing.

Question
Please tell me the difference of the following two sentences.
         "You will be subjected to security check-up."
         "You will be subject to security check-up."
Grammar's Response
Use the second version. "Subject," in that sentence, means simply that you will be under the influence of a later action (the checkup [which I would spell without the hyphen] ), as in "The mayor's plan is subject to discussion." But subjected to probably means that you will suffer the duress of an imposed action (it tends to imply something much more unpleasant).

Hi Krish,

Possibly this quick example might illustrate the difference a little in a simple way.

We are all subject to the law.

But, if you rob a bank, you will be subjected to the law.

Best wishes, Clive

Hi,

Yes, it has that ring to it.

Clive

"Subject to" is a predicative adjectival phrase and used to describe the state of the subject, whether the state is good or bad. "Be subjected to", on the other hand, is more suitable to describe an event in which the subject is the patient.

So we may say "All of us are subject to human error" but "All of us are subjected to human error" would be wrong. "Japanese-Americans were subjected to discrimination in the US during WW2" sounds natural. But "Women in pre-war Japan were subject to gender restrictions" would be as good as or even better than "Women in pre-war Japan were subjected to gender restrictions".

paco