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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Be surprised at / by human nouns
Hello.
Would you tell me whether there is any difference between a and b?.
a. I was surprised at John.
b. I was surprised by John.
Would you tell me whether there is any difference between a and b?.
a. I was surprised at John.
b. I was surprised by John.
Top answer
Sometimes they can mean the same thing, sometimes not. I was surprised at what John did. John surprised/startled me.
- Sometimes they can mean the same thing, sometimes not.
- I was surprised at what John did.
- John surprised/startled me.
- (active voice) I was startled by John.
- (passive voice) The first one usually means that you're familiar with John's character, and he has just recently done something uncharacteristic.
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1 Answers
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Sometimes they can mean the same thing, sometimes not.
I was surprised at what John did.
John surprised/startled me. (active voice) I was startled by John. (passive voice)
The first one usually means that you're familiar with John's character, and he has just recently done something uncharacteristic.
In the second case, you may know n
I was surprised at what John did.
John surprised/startled me. (active voice) I was startled by John. (passive voice)
The first one usually means that you're familiar with John's character, and he has just recently done something uncharacteristic.
In the second case, you may know n
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