Hidden Subject in Passive Mode

Question

I unwittingly wrote a new post over my first through the edit function. I've just deleted the new message, and re-written my question as close to what I wrote initially as possible.
[1] All his results were checked to decide whether we will hire him or not.
Grammatically, doesn't the author have to supply the sentence with the hidden subject "we" in the form of "for us" because the subjects are different?
Hiro/ Sendai, Japan

Cbsteh · Accepted Answer

In your example, it is unimportant who checked the results, just that it was checked by an unidentified someone/group, so there is no need to supply a "we" or "us".
Chris

CalifJim · Answer

HSSGrammatically, doesn't the author have to supply the sentence with the hidden subject "we" in the form of "for us" because the subjects are different?

No. That 'rule' does not apply generally to all cases, but only to certain verbs.

I believe you are referring to something like this: I waited to enter. I waited for him to enter.

CJ

HSS · Answer

But do the readers see it was "we" who decided if we hired him or not, though?

Hiro

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Yes, it is clear from the sentence that "we" made a decision.
But it is not clear who checked the results. It could have been an external agency.

HSS · Answer

[1] All his results were checked to decide whether we will hire him or not.

CalifJim
HSSGrammatically, doesn't the author have to supply the sentence with the hidden subject "we" in the form of "for us" because the subjects are different?
No. That 'rule' does not apply generally to all cases, but only to certain verbs.

I believe you are referring to something like this: I waited to enter. I waited for him to enter.

CJ

No, I was referring more to the constructs of sentences. You would say something like:
[2-1] The monkey stood there to take a picture.
[2-2] The monkey stood there for us to take a picuture.
[3-1] We moved aside to squeeze through.

[3-2] We moved aside for him to squeeze through.
When you don't have "for somebody" before a to-infinitive, you take the subject of the infinitive to be the same as that of the main verb. In [2-1], the picture was taken by the monkey, and, in [2-2], the picture was taken by "us."
"All his results" can't have decided whether we will hire him or not. How would you tell the subject of a to-infinitive in a passive sentence like that?
Hiro/ Sendai, Japan

BarbaraPA · Answer

HSS How would you tell the subject of a to-infinitive in a passive sentence like that?

I think you mean the agent, not the subject. The grammatical subject is the results.
But anyway, the point of using the passive is when "who did it" is either unimportant, not known, or deliberately omitted. If you think that it's important to say who did it, then don't use the passive. WE checked his results so we could hire him.

HSS · Answer

Yes, you are right. I meant "the agents" of to-infinitivs used in passive-voice sentences. How could you tell what the agent is for "to decide"? Please suppose "who checked" is not important in this example sentence, but "who decided" is important.
Hiro
[On retrospect, I think I was right in the usage of "the subject of a to-infinitive" because I was saying it in terms of the structure of the sentence

Plus, I may not have had to mention "Please suppose ... is important" here in this query]

CalifJim · Answer

HSSHow would you tell the subject of a to-infinitive in a passive sentence like that?

With infinitives of purpose, it seems to me that both the agent of the passive and the subject of the infinitive are an indeterminate "somebody". The two somebodies are usually but not necessarily coreferential.

Soft music is played to relax the patient.
Prices were reduced to attract more customers.
New laws were passed this year to keep the streets safe.
This medication has been used to treat depression in young adults.
All his results were checked to decide whether we will hire him or not.
The data is being analyzed to determine whether the concentration of carbon dioxide is increasing.

Rough paraphrases:

Somebody plays soft music because somebody wants to relax the patient.
Somebody reduced prices because somebody wanted to attract more customers.
Somebody passed new laws this year because somebody wanted to keep the streets safe.
Somebody has used this medication because somebody wanted to treat depression in young adults.
Somebody checked all his results because somebody wanted to decide whether we will hire him or not.
Somebody is analyzing the data because somebody wants to determine whether the concentration of carbon dioxide is increasing.

The infinitive is adverbial, telling why the action of the main clause was done. These can be rephrased in various ways, the most usual being "for the purpose of ---ing".

Soft music is played for the purpose of relaxing the patient.
Prices were reduced for the purpose of attracting more customers.
New laws were passed for the purpose of keeping the streets safe.
This medication has been used for the purpose of treating depression in young adults.
All his results were checked for the purpose of deciding whether we will hire him or not.
The data is being analyzed for the purpose of determining whether the concentration of carbon dioxide is increasing.

In a strange way, the entire main clause is the subject of the infinitive. Or, more precisely, the statement of the belief that underlies the whole sentence has the entire main clause as the subject.

[--- play soft music] relax patient (The playing of soft music relaxes the patient.)
[--- reduce prices] attract more customers (The reduction of prices attracts more customers.)
[--- pass new laws] keep streets safe (And so on.)
[--- use this medication] treat depression ...
[--- check his results] decide [we hire ...]
[--- analyze data] determine [ concentration ... increase]
____

I haven't figured out yet why this works differently for the monkey, where a possible paraphrase is "so that ... can/could".

The monkey stood there so that he could take a picture.

However, in this case, we definitely do not have

[monkey stands there] takes a picture.

CJ

HSS · Answer

How about the subjects of the gerund and of the present participle in the passive? I thought again they should match the subjects of the main verbs.
[4-1] Substances A and B were mixed after heating them to 60 degrees. ["A and B" heated them ???]
[4-2] Substances A and B were mixed after being heated to 60 degrees.
(I know "Substances A and B were mixed after they were heated to 60 degrees" is a lot better)

[5] Substances A and B were mixed using a spatula.
Hiro/ Sendai, Japan

CalifJim · Answer

HSS[4-1] Substances A and B were mixed after heating them to 60 degrees. ["A and B" heated them ???]
[4-2] Substances A and B were mixed after being heated to 60 degrees.

[4-2] is perhaps more precise, but no one would have any trouble understanding that the meaning is the same in both sentences. The native speaker can easily pick the appropriate subject of the participial phrase "out of the air".

The same comments apply to [ 5 ].

CJ

Hidden Subject in Passive Mode

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