To see or to be seen

Question

Hi Please tell which is correct here.His house is too big to see it within a day. His house is too big to be seen within a day.

GPY · Accepted Answer

His house is too big to see in a day.

Vsuresh · Answer

Thank you,GPY. Could you tell me when "to be seen" used in the similar structure?

GPY · Answer

I'm sorry, I slightly misread your question. These are both possible:

His house is too big to see in a day.
His house is too big to be seen in a day.

There is no significant difference in meaning, but the first one seems a bit more conversationally natural to me.

Vsuresh · Answer

Thank you,GPY.

CalifJim · Answer

vsureshHis house is too big to see it within a day.

The "it" is the problem here. His house is too big to see in a day is the correct form.

In the pattern too {adj} to {verb}, the verb, if it's transitive, can occur either in active or passive form. In either case it has passive meaning.

His house is too big to see in a day. = His house is too big to be seen in a day.

It is very common to use the active infinitive instead of the passive infinitive in these cases, but how to choose between one infinitive or the other is a very thorny problem.
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Here the passive version sounds wrong. Most speakers, I'd say, prefer the version in bold.

That pill is too big [?to be swallowed / to swallow].
Bill is too big [?to be pushed around / to push around].
That safety problem is too big [?to be tackled / to tackle].
This gap is too big [?to be bridged / to bridge].
The fund was considered too big [?to be managed / to manage].
Rescue workers were concerned the chopper was too big [?to be landed / to land] on the hillside.
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In the following cases, it's not so certain which version is preferred. Both can work. The passive was used in the originals that I found online.

Zshare is mainly used to share files that are too big [to be sent / to send] via e-mail.
Pensions are too big [to be treated / to treat] as just a budget item.
The giant oil skimmer brought in from Portugal is too big [to be used / to use] in the Gulf cleanup effort.
Greece's economic problems are too big [to be fixed / to fix] quickly.
Some toys are too big [to be shipped / to ship] fully assembled.
The gains were just too big [to be ignored / to ignore].

I'm sorry to say that I can offer no explanation for the preferences based on the structure or the vocabulary used in each sentence. So far I have not been able to see any definite pattern. To my ear, the passive forms suggest a more journalistic style, but that may be just a personal reaction.
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The passive infinitive is required when a by-phrase indicates the agent.

Australia proves itself a land too big to be tamed by a mere movie maker.
The bank sector is too big to be controlled by the Cypriot government.
Those bombs are too big to be delivered by missile warheads.
The magnitude of the import drop looks too big to be explained by this alone.
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There is an idiomatic use with 'believe' that's always in the passive:

That engagement ring is almost too big to be believed.
(You can't "believe a ring". The idea is that it is very hard to believe how big the ring is.)
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I'm sure there are other factors to consider, but these are some of the basics.

CJ

Vsuresh · Answer

Thank you, CJ for this elaborate explanation with examples. It is very helpful.

To see or to be seen

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