Hello, everyone,
1. (A) My name was heard <to be called>.
I've once read following explanation on the other thread of this forum, which says (A) above is wrong and should be corrected into “I heard my name called (by someone)”. I wonder if (A) by itself is grammatically correct or not;
"My name was heard called/to be called/being called." is not right. When you have the pattern, "______ was heard ....."
What goes in the blank is a person, an animate object, or an inanimate object capable of making a sound, for example:
- He was heard yelling at his brother.
- The dog was heard scratching at the door.
- The vase was heard crashing to the floor.
But "My name was heard..." is none of the above. A name is an abstract entity that cannot make a sound.
https://www.englishforums.com/English/MyNameHeardBeing/blpqhw/post.htm
2. (B) I heard my name <be called>.
I think <called> would be most common but I wonder if this (B) version with <be called> is invalid. Since in "She heard the doorbell <ring>." the <ring> is in fact a bare infinitive in the place of an objective complement of the perception verb, I think <be called> is another bare infinitive in a passive form only. Also we see "to be" deleted as in "Be careful washing those glasses! I don't want them (to be) broken.“
3. (C) "After Shelley, in the genre of science fiction, countless artificial beings were depicted as becoming dangerous. Human beings were seen <to be replaced> with their own creation.“
I wonder if the “to be replaced” in (C) above is correct or not. If (A) "My name was heard to be called." above is incorrect, (C) would be so too with the same logic, I think.
Your explanation would be greatly appreciated.
deepcosmos1. (A) My name was heard .
deepcosmos2. (B) I heard my name .
deepcosmos3. (C) "After Shelley, in the genre of science fiction, countless artificial beings were depicted as becoming dangerous. Human beings were seen with their own creation.“
Notice above that anything surrounded by < > fails to copy into quotations from the original post.
In any case, in my opinion all three are technically grammatical. This is a matter of usage, not grammar. If a construction sounds too complicated or strange in some way, native speakers will avoid it.
heard (s.t.) called is used, but heard (s.t.) be called and heard (s.t.) to be called are not.
And obviously, seen to be replaced is used. The only other example I found with seen to be is the following:
It is said that justice must not only be done but also be seen to be done.
CJ
Answered at the request of the OP.
deepcosmos1. (A) My name was heard to be called.
See the answers here:
https://thegrammarexchange.infopop.cc/topic/i-heard-my-name-be-called?reply=704317452979231738
Here are some possibilities:
I heard my name being called. (You are waiting in the doctors office. When it's your turn, the nurse will call your name.)
When I heard my name called, I went into the manager's office.
When your name is called, answer "present". (This is the typical instruction for a roll call.)
My name was heard on the street. (People are talking about you. Usually it is in the context of the stock market buzz, and "street" refers to Wall Street")
Hi, CJ, really appreciate your explanation.
Do you mean "(s.t.)" to be "something"?
What do think about the insistence that "My name" can't be the subject for "was heard" but "a person, an animate object, or an inanimate object capable of making a sound" can be it as in the thread below? Is that reasonable?
https://www.englishforums.com/English/MyNameHeardBeing/blpqhw/post.htm
Yes it can be the grammatical subject , because the sentence is a passive voice construction.
My name was heard (by lots of people in the crowd) to be called (by lots of others in the crowd.)
Like CJ says, it is technically grammatical, but so obscure that we avoid it.
Correct.
Personally, I would not insist on it. I wouldn't have phrased my answer that way. Any noun that refers to an entity that can be heard — a bell, a phone, a name, a proverb, a speech, a song — can be the subject of 'was heard'.
People heard my name. > My name was heard.
The jury heard the verdict. > The verdict was heard.
Everyone heard the teacher's instructions clearly. >
The teacher's instructions were heard clearly (by everyone).
It's when phrases like 'said', 'be said', or 'to be said' are added that the trouble starts. In these cases, sometimes the active form might not sound too bad, but the passive can be a stylistic disaster.
The jury heard the verdict announced. — not too bad
The jury heard the verdict be announced.— nearly unforgivable
The jury heard the verdict to be announced.— terrible
The verdict was heard (to be) announced (by the jury).— atrocious
CJ