0
CharmYou Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

Grammar about past participle

They are the ones that I need protected. (A line from Lie To Me)
I was confused about the past participle protected.
I would usually word something like "They are the ones that I need to protect "
I think the infinitive to protect would sound more correct to me. But why is the past participle pretected used in the original sentence? Can anyone explain the grammar to me? Thanks.
  

Top answer

CharmYou They are the ones that I need protected. This is perfectly natural and quite common. ( I need them to be protected / I need to have them protected ) I need to have someone protect them.

— Avangi

  • CharmYou They are the ones that I need protected.
  • This is perfectly natural and quite common.
  • ( I need them to be protected / I need to have them protected ) I need to have someone protect them.
  • This is one of those lines which requires context to make sense.
  • What is the preceding line?
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

4 Answers
0
CharmYouThey are the ones that I need protected.
This is perfectly natural and quite common. (I need them to be protected / I need to have them protected)

I need to have someone protect them.

This is one of those lines which requires context to make sense. What is the preceding line?
0
0
AvangiWhat is the preceding line?
My wife and my son are the only family that I have in the world. They are the ones that I need protected.

Thanks. Which one you think is more natural? The original sentence(past participle) or this one(intinitive)? They are the ones that I need to protect. or even They are the ones that I nee
0
0
CharmYouThey are the ones that I need protected.
This version (with the personal pronoun "I") would be natural only if the person you're talking to had misunderstood whom you were trying to have protected, and you are now correcting him.
(No, they are not the ones I need protected.)

"They are the ones that I need to protect" is natural and
0

Related Questions