Grammar question

Question

Hello,I have the following problem:When ___ correctly on cracked and dirty leather, our cleaning product will help remove the dirt.a) useb) usedc) usingd) it usedSo, because the second part of the sentence is future I am thinking that the first part should be past tense, it is like the second part is the result of the first sentence (where the action will have already happened). Following this thought, I can use b) used or d) it used. I thought the answer was d) it used. It is wrong. The answer is b).How can I understand this sentence? What are the grammar rules I should use?

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

Unfortunately your reasoning and logic are incorrect. When used is what I and Scandinavian grammarians call a passive clause equivalent, and in such structures only a past participle is normally used. Examples:

When used correctly, our cleaning product will remove all dirt.
= When our cleaning product is used correctly, it will remove all dirt.

All cars parked incorrectly will be removed.
= All cars that are parked incorrectly will be removed.

All cars parked incorrectly were removed.
= All cars that were parked incorrectly were removed.

If seen from high above, the building looks small.
= If the building is seen from high above, it looks small.

If seen from high above, the building looked small.
= If the building was seen from high above, it looked small.

CB

Terryxpress · Answer

The full sentence is:
When it is used correctly on cracked and dirty leather, our cleaning product will help remove the dirt.
Let me expand the sentence a little:
1. When it is used correctly by your domestic servants on cracked and dirty leather, our cleaning product will help remove the dirt.
and invert the sentence:
2. When your domestic servants use it on cracked....
Now - do you recognize that your sentence is written in the Passive Voice (as shown in (1)), - (2) is written in Active Voice.

The Passive Voice is 'is used (by)'
You can either write the shortened form:
When used correctly on...
but if writing the full form, then it would be:
When it is used on....
Answer (d) is 'it used', not the required 'it is used'.

Be careful with tests like that. They provide one alternative that is almost correct to catch the unwary.
(I'm getting a cocktail glass icon instead of Answer "(d)" )
...and again. I am trying to refer to ''the answer you thought was correct', the last alternative listed.

Anonymous · Answer

Wow thank you so much for the explanation! I'm not too sure what passive clause equivalent refers to. I understand these words separately but together, and my brain is:

.

So when the sentence is passive, it uses a past participle? How do I recognize when this is a passive clause equivalent sentence? How do I know when I have to answer with a past participle? Thanking you in advance

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you both Cool Breeze and Terryxpress! Terryxpress' answer is easier to understand personally. However, there is still the concern of when I should use this. Will I know when to use it the more I come across these type of questions or is there a specific formula that makes me use this?

Terryxpress · Answer

Look at these two sentences:
1. The cricket ball hit him on his leg. Active Voice, because the cricket ball (the subject of the sentence) performed the action.
and
2. He was hit on the leg by the cricket ball. Passive Voice, because 'he' did not perform the action, the object of the sentence (the cricket ball) did. 'He", the subject of the sentence, is the recipient of the action/has the action 'done to him'

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