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Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
"hold to be ~" in a passive form
Dear memebers,
I found a sentece unfamilar for me and would like to ask about its grammatical structure.
Thousands of Romans who might have earned a living by making shoes, clothes, furniture, jewelry, and all the thousand and one things used by the households of the rich by their slaves. And, what was worse, honest toil by free men was despised because it meant doing what a slave should do. Lower forms of human life were held cheaply. (Life in Ancient Rome, Frank Richard Cowell)
As you see, the sentence in question is the last one.
I've seen sentences with the expression "hold something or someone to be ~" which I suppose is similiar to "consider something or someone to be ~". However, according to that, the sentence should be like this; Lower forms of human life were held cheap.
Could you tell me why the writer used 'cheaply' rather than 'cheap?'
Thank you in advance!
I found a sentece unfamilar for me and would like to ask about its grammatical structure.
Thousands of Romans who might have earned a living by making shoes, clothes, furniture, jewelry, and all the thousand and one things used by the households of the rich by their slaves. And, what was worse, honest toil by free men was despised because it meant doing what a slave should do. Lower forms of human life were held cheaply. (Life in Ancient Rome, Frank Richard Cowell)
As you see, the sentence in question is the last one.
I've seen sentences with the expression "hold something or someone to be ~" which I suppose is similiar to "consider something or someone to be ~". However, according to that, the sentence should be like this; Lower forms of human life were held cheap.
Could you tell me why the writer used 'cheaply' rather than 'cheap?'
Thank you in advance!
Top answer
' An adverb is used here because it describes how they were held. People on the lower rungs of the social hierarchy were undervalued.
- ' An adverb is used here because it describes how they were held.
- People on the lower rungs of the social hierarchy were undervalued.
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6 Answers
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AnonymousCould you tell me why the writer used 'cheaply' rather than 'cheap?'An adverb is used here because it describes how they were held. People on the lower rungs of the social hierarchy were undervalued.
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AnonymousCould you tell me why the writer used 'cheaply' rather than 'cheap?'Maybe he missed the fact that 'held' in that sentence acts as a linking verb. If it does. This may be a matter of debate.
CJ
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Thank you, Alphecca.
Could you check the following sentences?
- I thought lower forms of human life ( cheaply / cheap. )
- I hold lower forms of human life ( cheaply / cheap. )
I guess in both sentences, one would say "cheap"
and that's why I've thought "held cheaply" is a little bit weird.
May I ask further explanation?
Could you check the following sentences?
- I thought lower forms of human life ( cheaply / cheap. )
- I hold lower forms of human life ( cheaply / cheap. )
I guess in both sentences, one would say "cheap"
and that's why I've thought "held cheaply" is a little bit weird.
May I ask further explanation?
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"held cheaply" is idiomatic. The phrase has fallen out of use.
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=held+cheaply&year_start=1900&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_u
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=held+cheaply&year_start=1900&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_u
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AnonymousMay I ask for further explanation?I know that you asked this specifically of Alphecca, but I, too, would like to add something.
Anonymous- I thought lower forms of human life ( cheaply / cheap. )- I hold lower forms of human life ( cheaply / cheap. )I guess in both sentences, one would say "
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Note the difference in meaning:
The boss called the secretary lazy. = He accused her of not working hard; "Susan you are the laziest secretary in the world!"
The boss called the secretary lazily. = He called her in a lazy manner of speaking; "Susan, would you make coffee?" he asked slowly, with no energy in his voice.
The boss called the secretary lazy. = He accused her of not working hard; "Susan you are the laziest secretary in the world!"
The boss called the secretary lazily. = He called her in a lazy manner of speaking; "Susan, would you make coffee?" he asked slowly, with no energy in his voice.
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