Active to Passive?

Question

Entrepreneurs should design products based on what customers say they want.

1. Products should be designed by entrepreneurs based on what customers say they want.

2. Products based on what customers say they want should be designed by entrepreneurs.

Which is correct?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

anonymousWhich is correct?

1

CJ

BillJ · Answer

[1] Entrepreneurs should design products based on what customers say they want. [Active]

[2] Products should be designed by entrepreneurs based on what customers say they want. (Passive)

[3] Products based on what customers say they want should be designed by entrepreneurs. (Passive)

This is an interesting example worth exploring a little.

Your active example [1] could be paraphrased as

[4] Entrepreneurs should design products on the basis of what customers say they want.

Here "on the basis of what customers say they want" is not a modifier of "products" but an adjunct in the "design" clause. [3] then seems (highly) questionable because it relates "based on ..." to "products" rather than "design".

It is arguable, then, that [1] does not in fact show the correct structure for the sentence, and I've a feeling that strong prescriptivists would avoid [1], choosing [4] instead.

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