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Grammar and Linguistics > PASSIVE: I am looking for very specific verbs …
PASSIVE: I am looking for very specific verbs …
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goodnesses
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By the Frenchfrog.
In French there is the impersonal pronoun "ON" that we use very often instead of the passive.
Especially, as AH said, when the doer is unknown or the the thing done is more important than the doer as in your example. In French we would rather say, " On lui a offert un manteau de fourrure." (active) than "Elle a �t� offerte un manteau de fourrure." or "Un manteau de fourrure lui a �t� offert." which would sound bizzare in French.
Qu�en pensez-vous?
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3 Oct 2008
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frenchfrog
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You are right but I am not interested in how French works!!!!
I have no problem with sentences like "She was given a reward for ...", "She was asked a few questions about ..." but there are sentences that just sound weird to my ear, like �My boyfriend cooked me lunch� > �I was cooked lunch by my boyfriend�????? or �She was bought a fur coat� (I prefer �She was given or offered a coat�).
Frenchfrog |
3 Oct 2008
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goodnesses
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I said this just to point out that quite often we are influenced by our mother tongue (French is "nearly" my mother tongue) when dealing with some functions of the English language.
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3 Oct 2008
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Vickiii
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I think you need to consider the prior sentence when discussing passive verbs.
Her Sugardaddy was oozing wealth and wanted to thank her for services rendered, it was important he remained discrete and therefore employed his secretary as the go between. She was bought a furcoat to ensure continued discretion.
In this context it sounds fine to me...  |
4 Oct 2008
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