0
Taka Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

to be seen

0 00・She put her words on paper 01u00to be seen by others02u00.02br
02br
02br
00About 'to be seen by others' above, who/what do you think was going to be seen by others? 'She' or 'her words? Or is it ambiguous?0-
  

Top answer

0 Hi Taka02br 00That's an awkward sentence. 02br 00. 0-

— Yankee

  • 0 Hi Taka02br 00That's an awkward sentence.
  • 02br 00.
  • 0-
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

11 Answers
0
0 Hi Taka02br
00That's an awkward sentence. I would assume that the intended meaning is that the words are to be seen, but I can see how people might also interpret it in other ways.02br
00. 0-
0
0
0Awkward it is, indeed. I fully agree.02br
00For your information, the original sentence is this:02br
00Every word we put on paper to be seen by others is subject to scrutiny of anonymous readers.0-
0
0
0In the original, it's quite clear that it's the words that are to be seen by others. Why wouldn't you just show us the entire original?0-
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Grammar Geek12cite10In the original, it's quite clear that it's the words that are to be seen by others. Why wouldn't you just show us the entire original?12br
12blockquote
10Semantically, it's clear that the words are to be seen by others. No doubt. 02br
02br
00I just wondered if i
0
0
Allow me to pick up this old thread. About this sentence:
Every word we put on paper to be seen by others is subject to scrutiny of anonymous readers.

Might it be possible to take 'to be seen by others' above as a modifier of 'paper'? If not, then why not?
0
0
No, not really, Taka. I don't think people would view "paper" as a separate entity. In the context, "put on paper" will be understood as a whole to mean "write (down)".
0
0
What if the sentence was this, with the article 'the'?
Every word we put on the paper to be seen by others is subject to scrutiny of anonymous readers.
0
0
That's so awkward. It would require a specific context. We have two sheets of paper. One is to be used to record our private thoughts and only we will see it. The other one will be seen by others. The words we put on that publically viewed paper will be subject to the scrutiny... etc.

It no longer has a general meaning, as the original did. Whenever any person writes something that will b
0
0
OK. So strictly from a grammatical point of view, with the article 'the', the infinitive phrase is to be taken as a modifier of 'the paper', right?
0
0
Strictly from a grammatical point of view, yes.
0

Related Questions