Incomplete passive/causative?
Hi I have come across the following opening sentence in the Wikipedia, but somehow I found the construction ungrammatical/incorrect.
"The purchase of officer commissions in the British Army was the practice of paying money to the Army to be made an https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officer_(armed_forces) of a cavalry or infantry regiment of the English and later https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Army."
But I cannot see the first part of the sentence as something that can be causative as I am missing the subject of the causation. For me that part should be the following: `to make someone an officer of a cavalry...`.
any insight or it is just me?
Top answer
There is an implied "for someone". It is an optional element. "
- There is an implied "for someone".
- It is an optional element.
- "
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There is an implied "for someone". It is an optional element.
"The purchase of officer commissions in the British Army was the practice of paying money to the Army (for someone) to be made an officer of a cavalry or infantry regiment of the English and later British Army."
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