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Andrei Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

Called or call

0If you found a new gadget, you might ask the others about its name. It can be a musical instrument, a piece of computer hardware or an accessory to your mobile phone. 02br
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00(1) How do you call this? 02br
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00(2) How do you called this? 02br
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00Which is the correct one in this case? I find a bit uncomfortable to use 'called' here. It is a past tense. So the first sentence should pass the test. Your thoughts, please. 02br
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00Of course, you could say what is the name of this. 02br
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00My question is on using the word 'call' in this context. 0-
  

Top answer

" Rather, the "called" construction is passive voice - "we call this a telephone. (active) It is called a telephone. (Passive) 02br 00The important thing is that we would begin the question with "what," not "how".

— Khoff

  • " Rather, the "called" construction is passive voice - "we call this a telephone.
  • (active) It is called a telephone.
  • (Passive) 02br 00The important thing is that we would begin the question with "what," not "how".
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8 Answers
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0 I would say "what do you call this?" or "what is this called?" It doesn't really carry the sense of a past tense -- if you wanted to put it in the past, you could say "what WAS this called in the 18th century?" Rather, the "called" construction is passive voice - "we call this a telephone. (active) It is called a telephone. (Passive) 02br
00The important thing is that we would
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0 Thanks khoff 02br
00So it has the passive form. I couldn't figure it out. 02br
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00It is not correct to say ' What do you called this'. 02br
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00It should be 'What do you call this' . 02br
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00Look at the following now: 02br
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00What is this called? 0
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0 Right - you can say "what do you call this?" OR "What is this called? but NOT "What do you called this?" 02br
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00"This is called a router" is correct, and it is in the passive voice. (y) 0-
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0 Let me just add that "do", "does" or "did" with a past tense verb in the same clause is impossible. The auxiliary "do", "does", or "did" carries the tense marker and the bare infinitive form is the only possibility for the main verb in such cases. 02br
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00*What do you called it? 02br
00*What did you called it? 02br
00What do you call it? 02br
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0 Thanks, Jim - this is exactly where my signature disclaimer comes in handy! 0-
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Is it correct to say, "This is what you called .... (referring to something)"

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We called it holiday
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