Lone Swordsman  +  514462 Fri, 16 May 08 04:02 PM Hi, I'd like to ask you, is it ok to use the passive voice of the verb "to focus" in this sentence: All this time John's been focused on blah-blah-blah... I'm kind of confused about what/who performs the action on John in that case...On the other hand, the following sentence sounds odd: All this time John's focused on blah-blah-blah... And Google tells that the Passive voice is the right choice to go with. Thanks. Lone Swordsman Joined on Fri, Jun 15 2007 New Member 32 Verbs

	Grammar Geek  +  514469 Fri, 16 May 08 04:20 PM Wrong sense of "Focus." It's not a the same as "He focused the light projector" or "he focused the camera." It means "to pay specific attention to someone." I don't have time to have children - I'm focused on my career right now. (Or: I don't care that my job isn't fulfilling; I'm focusing on my children right now.) All this time, John has been paying specific attention to...   Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,660 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!

	Lone Swordsman  +  514489 Fri, 16 May 08 05:08 PM GG, thanks for your reply. Looks like I get the point, but that's very interesting that the sentences with the same subject have practically the same meaning in spite of different (Active/Passive) verb forms. Lone Swordsman Verbs

	Cool Breeze  +  514520 Fri, 16 May 08 06:38 PM Lone Swordsman “ Looks like I get the point, but that's very interesting that the sentences with the same subject have practically the same meaning in spite of different (Active/Passive) verb forms. ”   Indeed. That sometimes happens in English. The context will tell you what is meant: He drowned in the river. He was drowned in the river. Both sentences can have the same meaning. The latter one can also mean that a crime was committed. English isn't always the most exact of languages. CB  Cool Breeze Joined on Fri, Apr 7 2006 Senior Member 3,971 "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 Verbs

	CalifJim  +  514524 Fri, 16 May 08 06:58 PM Lone Swordsman “All this time John's [John has] been focused on blah-blah-blah... ...All this time John's [John is] focused on blah-blah-blah...” Passive?  No.  There's nothing passive here, because there is no agent either implicit or explicit (i.e., there is nobody who is doing something). focused is an adjective.  Be careful.  Not every word with -ed is a verb in every sentence where it occurs.  These two sentences are just the same statement in two different tenses.  Note these: John is ...  [present] John was ... [past] John will be ... [future] John has been ... [present perfect] John had been ... [past perfect] Complete any of the phrases above by adding any of these: frightened of snakes, interested in science, focused on his studies, tired of reading, fascinated by insects, bored with grammar. None of the resulting sentences has a passive construction. CJ    CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,399 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Grammar, Verbs, Constructions, Tenses, Past Perfect, Present Perfect

	Lone Swordsman  +  514542 Fri, 16 May 08 07:57 PM CalifJim, Cool Breeze thanks for your input. CalifJim, I had a feeling that "focused" in the first sentence (the second sentence was meant to go like ...John's [John has] focused on...,which is absolutely wrong) was an adjective, not a verb, but I wasn't sure. And your post has removed all doubts about that. Thanks a lot. P.S. While I was trying to find an agent of the sentence, thinking that the sentence is passive, I had a few mystical experiences)) Lone Swordsman Verbs