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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
To be explained
Hi, I was wondering if you can use the verb 'explain' in the passive, for example
"The children were explained that..."
Thank you!
"The children were explained that..."
Thank you!
Top answer
" That sounds very odd. But you can certainly say eg The rules were explained to the children. Clive
- " That sounds very odd.
- But you can certainly say eg The rules were explained to the children.
- Clive
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2 Answers
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Hi,
I was wondering if you can use the verb 'explain' in the passive, for example
"The children were explained that..."
That sounds very odd. But you can certainly say eg
The rules were explained to the children.
Clive
I was wondering if you can use the verb 'explain' in the passive, for example
"The children were explained that..."
That sounds very odd. But you can certainly say eg
The rules were explained to the children.
Clive
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Anonymous if you can use the verb 'explain' in the passiveYes, but only with the direct object of the active form moved to the subject position (as in Clive's example above) -- not with the indirect object (the person(s) to whom the explanation is given) moved to subject position (as in your example).
There are quite a few verbs of this type, among t
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