Thought of x as Y

Question

The mountain cornfloss, native to the Rocky Mountains from Colorado to Canada and thought to be the most beautiful of all wildflowers, grows on steep ledges and in deep cracks on remote mountaintops.

I read thought of x as y is a correct idiom and thought to be is wrong? so would above sentence be correct if I modify as :

The mountain cornfloss, native to the Rocky Mountains from Colorado to Canada and thought of as being the most beautiful of all wildflowers, grows on steep ledges and in deep cracks on remote mountaintops.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

Both versions are correct.

Can you give us a reference claiming that "thought to be" is incorrect?

Pokh · Answer

AvangiBoth versions are correct.Can you give us a reference claiming that "thought to be" is incorrect?

Avangi... I dont exactly have a source claiming Thought to be is wrong... however http://www.platinumgmat.com/about_gmat/sc_gmat_idiom_list s ays Think of x as y is correct ..so I sort of generalised other version are not correct.... Can you please highlight the difference between Think of X as Y and Think of x to be Y

Avangi · Answer

Hi, pokh,

You may have somewhat simplified one of the idioms. Sometimes it's beneficial to construct a complete sentence first, and then try to extract a formula.

pokhThe mountain cornfloss, native to the Rocky Mountains from Colorado to Canada and thought to be the most beautiful of all wildflowers, grows on steep ledges and in deep cracks on remote mountaintops.

In this one, the basic sentence is "The mountain cornfloss grows."

I'd say that the subject modifiers are in the form of appositives:

1. native to the Rocky Mountains etc.

and 2. thought to be beautiful etc. (considered to be beautiful etc.)

It's hard to pin down the grammar of the appositive -- for me, anyway.

Either one of these could substitute for the predicate in the basic sentence:

The cornfloss is native to the Rocky Mountains.

The cornfloss is thought to be beautiful. This is not what you'd call an idiom. It's just passive voice.

(active voice) People think it to be beautiful.

(passive voice) It is thought [by people] to be beautiful.

The main verb is "to think" in both cases. The infinitive "to be" is non-finite. (Pardon the redundancy.)

You could write the sentence as a compound (tripple) predicate:

The cornfloss is native to the Rocky Mountains, is thought to be beautiful, and grows on steep ledges.

But when you use your phrase as an appositive, what do you call it? I guess it's just a past participial phrase.

The cornfloss, thought to be beautiful, grows on steep ledges.

Well, that's one of your expressions!

Your second one is just the same old story of the two verbals, the participle and the infinitive. Sometimes they're interchangeable and sometimes they're not. Sometimes one needs to be tweeked with a preposition. It's all a matter of common usage. (I'm sure you realize this.)

thought to be + adjective = thought of as being + adjective

The cornfloss is thought of as being beautiful.

The cornfloss, thought of as being beautiful, grows on steep ledges.

I am thought of as [being] the boss.

In all these sentences, "being" is optional.

In some cases there's a different shade of meaning between the two expressions.

He is thought to be the murderer.

He is thought of as being a dangerous man.

That's two! .

To think of x as y This has a lot of versions.

It might help to ponder "think" vs "consider."

In some cases we use "think of," but we never use "consider of."

I think of you as beautiful.

I consider you beautiful.

I consider you to be beautiful.

I think of you as being beautiful.

I consider you as being beautiful. I don't think so!

I think of life as a bowl of cherries.

You are thought beautiful. = You are thought of as beautiful.

You are considered beautiful.

Thought of x as Y

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