too+adj+ to +?

[bread]

The book is too hard to carry.
The book is too hard to be carried.
Which one is correct? If the first sentence is correct butt not the second one, why so?

Thanks! :o

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by bread

The book is too hard to carry.
The book is too hard to be carried.
Which one is correct? If the first sentence is correct butt not the second one, why so?

Thanks! :o

The phrase for us is often omitted,

The book is too heavy to carry.
The book is too heavy for us to carry.
The book is too heavy to be carried for us. (Not OK)

Note, hard describes a surface, whereas heavy describes weight.

All the best, :D

[bread]

Originally Posted by Casiopea

The phrase for us is often omitted,

The book is too heavy to carry.
The book is too heavy for us to carry.
The book is too heavy to be carried for us. (Not OK)

Note, hard describes a surface, whereas heavy describes weight.

All the best, :D

Can "hard" mean "very difficult?"
I meant the bk is very difficult too carry

[Tdol]

In that sense, it would make sense to say 'the book is too hard to read'. I can't see it working with 'carry'.

[Francois]

The books are too heavy to be carried <= this sounds fine to me. No native speaker likes it?

FRC

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by Francois

The books are too heavy to be carried <= this sounds fine to me. No native speaker likes it?

FRC

You're right; my comment, though, was on the semantic structure of the passive structure:

1. The books are too heavy (for us) to carry. (Active) :D
2. The books are too heavy to be carried for us. (Passive) :(
=> 'by us' would have been the correct form. :wink:
3. The books are too heavy to be carried by us. :D

Of course, 2 is grammatical given a situation wherein someone asks to carry our books: "The books are too heavy to be carried for us (i.e. You shouldn't carry them for us; they're too heavy).

In short, 1. refers to "us" as the carriers (the ones doing the action), not the carriees (the ones having the action done for them).

Is carriees even a word? Hehe

All the best, FRC. :D

[Francois]

OK, sry for the misunderstanding.

FRC

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by Francois

OK, sry for the misunderstanding.

FRC

No apologies necessary. :D Questions are good! 8)