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Kanadeva Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Passive To Infinitive

Hello, it's me again (Who? Emotion: stick out tongue). I often come across kind of sentences like these:
- This book is easy to read
- That cake is easy to make
- I have so much work to do.

My question is why are they used active? Why not passive like to be read, to be made and to be done? Thank you in advance for your explanation.
  

Top answer

Kanadeva - This book is easy to read- That cake is easy to make- I have so much work to do. These are call "middle voice" sentences which appear to be active in form but connote passiveness. Kanadeva This book is easy to read It would be extremely awkward if written in full passive form: This book is easy to be read .

— Dimsumexpress

  • Kanadeva - This book is easy to read- That cake is easy to make- I have so much work to do.
  • These are call "middle voice" sentences which appear to be active in form but connote passiveness.
  • Kanadeva This book is easy to read It would be extremely awkward if written in full passive form: This book is easy to be read .
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11 Answers
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Kanadeva- This book is easy to read- That cake is easy to make- I have so much work to do.
These are call "middle voice" sentences which appear to be active in form but connote passiveness.
KanadevaThis book is easy to read
It would be extremely awkward if written in full passive form: This book is easy to
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Thank you, dimsumexpress. Is it also applicable to "John is easy to please"? Is it impossible to be active? Then how do we say if we want to say it in active meaning? I mean how do we distinguish that such of sentences have active or passive meaning (especially when the subject is a person)?
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Oooops! I did it again, My fingers were going faster than my brain could handle...
dimsumexpressThese are call "middle voice"
Should be "these are called ..... "
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KanadevaI mean how do we distinguish that such of sentences have active or passive meaning (especially when the subject is a person)?
As you discovered, there are many such uses in natural English. Distinguishing them isn't difficult if you know your passive voice.
KanadevaIs it also applicable to "John is easy to please"?
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In my opinion, the first two sentences are examples of adjectival phrases, where "easy to read" and "easy to make" are the adjectival phrases there.

This place is nice. (a single adjective)
This place is nice to live in. ("nice to live in" is an adjectival phrase)
This place is nice to be lived in. (obviously wrong; passive voice can't be applied to an adjectival phrase)
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Just one additional note.
Depending on the adjectival phrase used, a passive or active sense can be implied (as Dimsum suggested).

He's easy to please. (passive sense)

He's eager to help. (active sense)
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Thank you very much for you explanation, Ivanhr. I really appreciate it. I hope you, and also dimsumexpress, will always help me if I have questions in the future though, probably, they sound stupid.
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Kanadeva,
I wish every poster could be as pleasant, clear and polite as you, that will make the whole learning experience even that much more enjoyable. Having said that, I also would like to acknowledge Ivan's last comments about how the adjectival phrases could change the passive and active property of a sentence. Keep in mind though, not every contexts can be made into passive voice, especi
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