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Ask for help > About passive voice
About passive voice

Mini9
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About passive voice
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hey everybody:
about the sentence: This was also the first drink to be consumed iin 1985.
so to be consumed is passive, but what kind of passive, is it past simple? |
18 Nov 2012
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adital
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Hi Mini9 Yes it �s past simple. to be cosumed is another way of saying: which was consumed, and that ofcourse is past simple. |
18 Nov 2012
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perma
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It �s passive voice in infinitive form. Other examples: The problem must be solved. (bare infinitive, without "to") He needs to be left alone. (infinitive with "to")
You can find passive infinitives in past, present and future sentences. The example you gave us would be " It will be the first to be consumed" in a future sentence.
HTH Katerina |
18 Nov 2012
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almaz
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Maybe this, from the grammarian Geoffrey Pullum, will help (or maybe not - it �s quite detailed for a blog post):
Look at section 2 in particular where he discusses the �crucial � role of the participle in passive clauses and then section 3 where he states that participles never have tense.
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18 Nov 2012
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