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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

passive voice

0Hi, 02br
00please help me with these transformation exercise:02br
02br
001/ People saw him steal your car02br
00=> should it be "he was seen to steal your car" 02br
00or:02br
00he was seen stealing your car02br
02br
002/ He won't let you do that silly thing again02br
00=> should it be "you won't be let to do that silly thing again"02br
00or:02br
00you won't be let do that silly thing again02br
02br
00Many thanks02br
02br
00 P.S: three of my teachers have told me the exact answer for question 1 is "he was seen to steal your car". They said both sentences are correct but because the original sentence is not in the -ing form, the passive sentence shouldn't be, either. I told them I think "he was seen to steal your car" is wrong, but they told me it is right, and this rule appears in many grammar books. I'm so confused... (+_+)02br
02br
00For question 2, please tell me if is ok to use "be let to do something" or "be let do something"02br
02br
00please, I need help as soon as possible...02br
02br
00A zillion thanks0-
  

Top answer

0Your three teachers must all be from the same school. The present participle surely sounds better than the infinitive in this case. It seems to me that their argument against "ing" could be applied as well to the infinitive.

— Avangi

  • 0Your three teachers must all be from the same school.
  • The present participle surely sounds better than the infinitive in this case.
  • It seems to me that their argument against "ing" could be applied as well to the infinitive.
  • 02i 00 That must be their point.
  • "02br 02br 00In your second example, I've heard the "to" omitted, but neither form of the answer is frequently used.
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17 Answers
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0Your three teachers must all be from the same school. The present participle surely sounds better than the infinitive in this case. It seems to me that their argument against "ing" could be applied as well to the infinitive. Although I guess technically the original sentence 01b00does02b00 use the infinitive: 01i00People saw him (to) steal your car.02i
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0thanks avangi. They are not from the same school, but they are from the same country 05002br
02br
00I want to ensure: we never use "he was seen to steal your car" IN ANY WAYS, don't we?02br
02br
00For the second question, I'd like to ask: in other cases (not this one), can we used "be let do sth" or "be let to do sth"? or the verb "let" can never be in
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0 I hope I am not stealing Avangi's thunder....02br
00While you are waiting, here is my 2 cents worth.02br
02br
00Britney was seen…02br
02br
01sup01b00(shopping on 00) 02b02sup02br
02br
01sup01b00( half drunk in a club in 00)02b02sup02br
02
0
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0I hope I didn't mislead you with my first reply. My understanding was that in both examples, 1 & 2, there were two solutions. Both were grammatically correct, but your teachers only allowed one in each case, because they wanted you to follow the example of the active sentence in formulating the passive.02br
02br
00There's nothing wrong with "he was seen to steal your car,"
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0Hey, Goodman, no worries, there's plenty enough thunder to go around. You're welcome anytime. - A.02br
02br
00P.S. sorry for the delay, my internet connection was misbehaving - on my end this time.0-
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0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Avangi12cite10I hope I didn't mislead you with my first reply. My understanding was that in both examples, 1 & 2, there were two solutions. 11sup10Both were grammatically correct,12sup10 but your teachers only allowed one in each case, because they wanted you to follow the example of the active senten
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0Hi Goodman,02br
02br
00In poking around the internet looking at other English sites etc. it seems when "was seen to" is addressed specifically, the rank and file agree it's illegal, but the gurus say it's correct and rare.02br
02br
00You may have noticed that this thread was started by a student protesting that three different teachers told him it was cor
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0Thanks a lot, Avangi and Goodman. However I still have this query: In other cases where "let" is used in passive voice, should it be "be let to do something" or "be let do something"? Or "let" is just used in active sentences and VERY RARELY in passive?02br
02br
00Thanks a lot 050010id1
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0
0i think so02br
02br
001. he was seen by the people to steal your car02br
02br
00may it help you.0-
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0Hi sana kiran,02br
02br
00Since the person who started this thread is anonomous, let me welcome you to the Forums. Thanks for joining us.02br
02br
00I think Anon was sort of hoping we'd all say the sentence you wrote is incorrect. So far, only you and I have come out in support of the usage.02br
02br
00(Sometimes I think "improper us
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