refer

[rainbow402]

refer to sb/sth (DESCRIBE) phrasal verb
1 to talk or write about someone or something, especially briefly:

He always refers to the house as his "refuge"

Dear Teacher,

The quote above is the excerpt from online Cambridge Dictionary. I wonder why the following sentence is wrong.

The house is referred to his refuge.

Thank you.

[Anglika]

This sentence would mean that the house was being sent on to his refuge.

[rainbow402]

Hello Anglika,

Thanks for your response. I think my previous example sentence might be not good.

Here's a new one. No. 1 was written by me and No. 2 was the correction by a teacher. I wonder why No. 1 is wrong.

#1 The door was referred to his office.

#2 The door was in reference to his office

Thank you.

[BobK]

Hello Anglika,

Thanks for your response. I think my previous example sentence might be not good.

Here's a new one. No. 1 was written by me and No. 2 was the correction by a teacher. I wonder why No. 1 is wrong.



Thank you.

I'm afraid I don't agree with your teacher.
No. 1 is wrong, I agree; but no. 2 isn't a huge improvement:

#1 The door was referred to his office. - except in Anglika's (jocular) interpretation.

#2 The door was used in reference to his office

Alternatively, "The word 'door' was a reference to his office."

To answer your question, '"door" refers to his office' (verb in the active voice); 'his office is referred to by "door"' (verb in the passive voice). You could use the verb in the passive voice in your sentence by adding 'as', but the meaning would be different (and ridiculous ):

The door was referred to as his office. [This would mean that people mistakenly used the word "office" when they meant his door!]

b

[rainbow402]

Bobk,

Thank you very much for illustrating the usage of " refer". I had made umpteenth mistakes of misusing it unconsciously before the online teacher happened to pointed that out.

I hope I can use this word properly next time.