Active sentences with two objects in passive L4
When there are two objects in an active sentence, there are two possible active sentences and two possible passive sentences.
possibility 1: The professor explained the students the exercise.
possibility 2: The professor explained the exercise to the students.
There are two objects in each of the following sentences:
object 1 = indirect object: the students
object 2 = direct object: the exercise
An indirect object is very often a person, a direct object a thing. When a direct object is followed by an indirect one, we put to in front of the indirect object.
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active sentence - possibility 1
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subject
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verb
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indirect object
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direct object
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The professor
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explained
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the students
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the exercise.
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active sentence - possibility 2
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subject
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verb
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direct object
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indirect object
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The professor
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explained
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the exercise
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to the students.
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Each of the objects (direct and indirect) can be the subject in the passive sentence.
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passive sentence - possibility 1
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subject
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verb
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object
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(by-agent)
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The students
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were explained
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the exercise.
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(by the professor).
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passive sentence - possibility 2
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subject
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verb
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object
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(by-agent)
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The exercise
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was explained
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to the students
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(by the professor).
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Possibility 1 is sometimes called Personal passive
Verbs with prepositions in passive L5
When we put an active sentence, where a preposition follows after the verb (e.g. break into, look after), into passive - the preposition remains immediately after the verb.
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Active sentence |
Passive sentence |
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Someone broke into the pet shop. |
The pet shop was broken into. |