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Thread: English language help, please

  1. #1
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    English language help, please

    I have an English exam tomorrow and I have a doubt on the passive voice...Do the following sound correct to you? The exercise asks to rephrase the sentences making them more formal, by using the impersonal passive forms below.

    1. Police think the robbers entered through an open window.

    a) It is thought that the robbers entered through an open window.
    b) The robbers are thought to have entered through an open window.

    2. Police say the murderer has disappeared.

    a) It is said that the murderer has disappeared.
    b) The murderer is said to have disappeared.

    My doubt is on 1b) and 2b) because while the initial phrases have different verbal tenses (Simple Past and Present Perfect), the passive sentences both use Perfect Infinitive...but it's the only way it sounds good to me...

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    1b and 2b are correctly rephrased using impersonal passive form.

    You'll get the hang of it with practice. I don't know how similar Spanish is to French, grammatically, but French has very strict rules and forms that make it easier to follow if your mind is good with algorithms. English is far less algorithmic.

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    I think it's 1)B and 2)B but not sure. I'll clarify with my BF later since he is the English major person.

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    Quote Originally Posted by KingZ View Post
    1b and 2b are correctly rephrased using impersonal passive form.

    You'll get the hang of it with practice. I don't know how similar Spanish is to French, grammatically, but French has very strict rules and forms that make it easier to follow if your mind is good with algorithms. English is far less algorithmic.
    Thank you! You're a star

    Spanish is very similar to French but more regular fortunately

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by chinagirl View Post
    I think it's 1)B and 2)B but not sure. I'll clarify with my BF later since he is the English major person.
    Thanks for thinking of doing that. That's very sweet of you

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    Quote Originally Posted by Valixy View Post
    Thank you! You're a star

    Spanish is very similar to French but more regular fortunately
    What do you mean, Spanish is more regular than French? Is this a Spaniard superiority thing? Because we're better, if that's the argument you want to start.

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    My daughter who is super smart and learned this from school says it's 1)B and 2)B.

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    Quote Originally Posted by chinagirl View Post
    My daughter who is super smart and learned this from school says it's 1)B and 2)B.
    She took it after her mommy Thx!!

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    Quote Originally Posted by KingZ View Post
    What do you mean, Spanish is more regular than French? Is this a Spaniard superiority thing? Because we're better, if that's the argument you want to start.
    Not exactly :-) I LOVE the way French language sounds but I find it a bit more complicated than Spanish...And I am not a native Spanish speaker (almost though :-)). I am originally from East Europe but I've been living here for a long time, absolutely love Spain and I appreciate its more simple grammar and pronunciation :-)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Valixy View Post
    Not exactly :-) I LOVE the way French language sounds but I find it a bit more complicated than Spanish...And I am not a native Spanish speaker (almost though :-)). I am originally from East Europe but I've been living her for a long time, absolutely love Spain and I appreciate its more simple grammar and pronunciation :-)
    What part of Europe are you originally from?

    The implications of this are huge.

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    Thanks Val and my BF's daughter confirmed the answer as well. I just hope they're both right ;-) but they learned this from school this year.

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    Quote Originally Posted by chinagirl View Post
    Thanks Val and my BF's daughter confirmed the answer as well. I just hope they're both right ;-) but they learned this from school this year.
    This is awesome! Thank you very much.

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    Quote Originally Posted by KingZ View Post
    What part of Europe are you originally from?

    The implications of this are huge.
    East Europe :-) There are no implications though :-) I am totally integrated in Spain, love the country, love the people, love the language, everything, and it has felt like home from the very first moment

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    Hmm. If I had to guess, I would say Romania. Maybe Poland.

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    Quote Originally Posted by KingZ View Post
    Hmm. If I had to guess, I would say Romania. Maybe Poland.
    Spain is not such a big country and I'd rather keep personal information private since I prefer to use this forum anonymously

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    God, you and searock both, for fu​ck's sake.

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    Quote Originally Posted by KingZ View Post
    God, you and searock both, for fu​ck's sake.
    Sorry...

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