Monday, November 28, 2016

Passive construction of infinitive verb


Example #1:



Active voice: India expected to win the match.


Passive (book answer): It was expected by India that they would win the match.


My answer: India expected the match to be won.



Example #2:




Active: I expect her to finish the task.


Passive (book answer): I expect the task to be finished by her.



For the first example (#1), the book shows only one answer but I think my answer is also correct. I just changed the sentence into passive voice in the same way as the book changed the second example (#2) into a passive.


Is my answer for #1 correct? Is my answer to #1 grammatically the same as the book's answer to #1?



Answer




1#


Active voice: India expected to win the match.




I think the easiest way to read this sentence is to add one simple verb to act as a copulative:



India (is/was) expected to win the match.



Note that this sentence (or the original headline!) does not in any way indicate who expected India to win! It could be the press, the public at large, the writer of the article or some sports expert that said this in an interview.



Passive voice( book answer): It was expected by India that they would win the match.



Information is added that was not there in the original headline! The headline does not say that India expected to win, it say that India was expected to win. Nothing indicates who expected it!




My answer : India expected the match to be won.



That is an interesting expectation. It is equivalent to:



India did not expect a draw.



The original headline clearly states that expectations exist that India would win the match, your version states that India expect somebody will win.


Both the book and your version are introducing India as the party that expects something, but the headline does not have that information. In my view, both versions are incorrect.


Sentence 2 is more straightforward and I agree with the book version. The original sentence is also a complete sentence, not a headline.





I just realized that the original sentence does not have to be a (newspaper) headline. The answer above is obviously reading it as if the sentence appeared as a headline, but of course India also simply be the subject in a normal active sentence. In that case, yes, India or the India team are indeed the subject, and they do expect to win the match.


The book answer is completely correct in that case, of course.


Your version still leaves the main verb in the sentence (expects) in the active voice. The main idea of the original sentence is India expects something. You have change something into an (almost) meaningless passive construct and you changed the meaning of the sentence!


The original sentence India expected (to win the match) should be changed into the passive as It was expected by India (that they would win the match).


You version does use a passive construction for (to win the match), but normally in these exercises you are expected (pun intended) to change the voice of the main clause of the sentence.


Apart from the fact that you do not change the main clause of the sentence, you also have removed the important information about who was expected to win the match! In your version, if India's opponent won, that would still be according to the expectation.


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