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Which are correct:1-King Lear is written by Shakespeare.2-He is unaffected by his father's passing.3-This car is repaired by an expert mechanic and is now running well.4-His arm is broken by a hoodlum. (Meaning: His arm has been broken by a hoodlum.)5-This dish is untouched by human hands.Gratefully,Navi.

Fivejedjon · Accepted Answer

More context is needed before any absolute answer can be given. Without more context, I suggest that the following are the versions I would expect:

1-King Lear was written by Shakespeare.
2-He is/was/has been unaffected by his father's passing. (More context is essential)
3-This car has been/was repaired by an expert mechanic and is now running well.
4-His arm was broken by a hoodlum.
5-This dish is untouched by human hands.

Navitasan · Answer

Thank you very much Fivejedjon,

I was told that when one uses 'by+agent' in such sentences, we have a real passive structure and not an adjectival phrase. I think '5' and '2' are exceptions. The reason seems to me to be that we are talking about something that has not happened.

Do these work:

a-He is affected by his father's passing.
b-He is saddened by his father's passing.
Context: His father died two weeks ago and he is still affected/saddened by it.

(b) sounds wrong to me and I cannot make up my mind about (a).

Gratefully,
Navi.

CalifJim · Answer

navitasan1-King Lear is written by Shakespeare.

King Lear is way too old to be "is". It was written by Shakespeare. (Shakespeare wrote it, not Shakespeare writes it.)

navitasan2-He is unaffected by his father's passing.

Correct. ("unaffected" is an adjective, not part of the non-existent verb "to unaffect".)

navitasan3-This car is repaired by an expert mechanic

This much implies "always", "all the time", "on many occasions". The rest of your sentence ("and is now running well") contradicts this. You can have this part alone (with the stated implications) or you can change the whole sentence in one of these ways (or something similar):

When this car is repaired by an expert mechanic, it (always) runs well.
This car is being repaired by an expert mechanic, so it will soon be running well.

navitasan4-His arm is broken by a hoodlum. (Meaning: His arm has been broken by a hoodlum.)

That sentence can't have the meaning you attribute to it. As explained above, this means His arm is regularly (always, every day, every month, habitually) broken by a hoodlum.

navitasan5-This dish is untouched by human hands.

Grammatically correct, but strange to my ear. I'd use "was" or "has been".
(By the way, there is no verb "to untouch" so this is definitely not an example of passive voice.)

CJ

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