grammar and vocabulary

jiang · #1 (**permalink**) 01-Oct-2004, 08:49

Dear teachers,

I have two questions to ask:

No.1
Today I watched the 1st president election debate held in the United States. This is the first time for me to watch it. My question is "Which word should be used to describe the man who controlled the debate? Is he called judge or chairman" ?

No.2
I did not believe there was really any good to be had in tearing me away from my home.
As far as I know, 'have' can't be used in passive voice. So why do we have 'to be had'....? Has English grammar changed so much that 'have' can be used in passive voice?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

jiang · #2 (**permalink**) 01-Oct-2004, 08:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by jiang

Dear teachers,

I have two questions to ask:

No.1
Today I watched the 1st president election debate held in the United States. This is the first time for me to watch it. My question is "Which word should be used to describe the man who controlled the debate? Is he called judge or chairman" ?

No.2
I did not believe there was really any good to be had in tearing me away from my home.
As far as I know, 'have' can't be used in passive voice. So why do we have 'to be had'....? Has English grammar changed so much that 'have' can be used in passive voice?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

Casiopea · #3 (**permalink**) 01-Oct-2004, 15:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by jiang

Dear teachers,

I have two questions to ask:

No.1
Today I watched the 1st president election debate held in the United States. This is the first time for me to watch it. My question is "Which word should be used to describe the man who controlled the debate? Is he called judge or chairman" ?

I'm not sure myself. Sorry. Chairman sounds right, though. There's also, moderator.

I didn't watch the debate; I was going to but when I heard that it was scripted (i.e., the questions/topics were known in advance and the chair was told who to ask and when to ask), I decided to do something else instead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jiang

No.2
I did not believe there was really any good to be had in tearing me away from my home.
As far as I know, 'have' can't be used in passive voice. So why do we have 'to be had'....? Has English grammar changed so much that 'have' can be used in passive voice?

In that context, 'had' is synonymous with gained.

EX: There was nothing to gain ~ to be had

All the best, :D

jiang · #4 (**permalink**) 02-Oct-2004, 07:22

Dear Casiopea,

Thank you very much for your explanation. I am still felt confused as to No.2. If the word 'had' means 'gained', the sentence should be 'I did not believe there was really any good to be gained in tearing me away from my home' . The sentence is somewhat difficult to understand. Could you please kindly further explain the sentence?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

In that context, 'had' is synonymous with gained.

EX: There was nothing to gain ~ to be had

All the best,

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casiopea

Quote:

Originally Posted by jiang

Dear teachers,

I have two questions to ask:

No.1
Today I watched the 1st president election debate held in the United States. This is the first time for me to watch it. My question is "Which word should be used to describe the man who controlled the debate? Is he called judge or chairman" ?

I'm not sure myself. Sorry. Chairman sounds right, though. There's also, moderator.

I didn't watch the debate; I was going to but when I heard that it was scripted (i.e., the questions/topics were known in advance and the chair was told who to ask and when to ask), I decided to do something else instead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jiang

No.2
I did not believe there was really any good to be had in tearing me away from my home.
As far as I know, 'have' can't be used in passive voice. So why do we have 'to be had'....? Has English grammar changed so much that 'have' can be used in passive voice?

In that context, 'had' is synonymous with gained.

EX: There was nothing to gain ~ to be had

All the best, :D

Casiopea · #5 (**permalink**) 03-Oct-2004, 08:11

You're welcome. :D

Quote:

...there was really any good to be had ~ gained in tearing me away from my home.

What about?

There wasn't really any good that was going to come out oftearing me away from my home.

All the best, :D

jiang · #6 (**permalink**) 05-Oct-2004, 07:18

Dear Casiopea,

Thank you very much for your further explanation. However, the sentence has become more difficult for me to understand now. So I am sorry to bother you again.

I have noticed that you have put the phrase 'to come out oftearing me away from my home' in the sentence. Could you please explain what '[u]' means and what the phrase 'come out of' mean?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casiopea

You're welcome. :D

Quote:

...there was really any good to be had ~ gained in tearing me away from my home.

What about?

There wasn't really any good that was going to come out oftearing me away from my home.

All the best, :D

Casiopea · #7 (**permalink**) 05-Oct-2004, 09:25

You're welcome. :D

Quote:

I did not believe there was really any good to be had in tearing me away from my home.

I did not believe there was really any good to come out of tearing me away from my home.

'to come out of' refers to a result. What about?

Nothing good was going to result from tearing me away from my home. (I did not believe the result of tearing me away from home was going to be a good result. I didn't believe I was going to gain anything from the experience. I didn't believe anything good was to be had from the experience.)

All the best, :D

jiang · #8 (**permalink**) 05-Oct-2004, 09:46

:D
Dear Casiopea,

Thank you so much for your explanation. Now I see. However, what I am still feel confused is the meaning of the word 'that'. According to your explanation 'have' bears the meaning 'cause a result'. Is that right?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casiopea

You're welcome. :D

Quote:

...there was really any good to be had ~ gained in tearing me away from my home.

What about?

There wasn't really any good that was going to come out oftearing me away from my home.

All the best, :D

Casiopea · #9 (**permalink**) 05-Oct-2004, 10:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by jiang

However, I still feel confused about the meaning of the word 'that'.

that functions as a relative pronoun. You can leave it in or take it out, like this,

I did not believe (that) there was really any good to be had in tearing me away from my home.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jiang

According to your explanation 'have' bears the meaning 'cause a result'. Is that right?

Actually, 'any good to be had' means, nothing good will be gained, nothing good will come out of (i.e., result) from the action. :wink:

jiang · #10 (**permalink**) 05-Oct-2004, 12:23

:D

Dear Casiopea,

Thank you so much for your explanation! Now I understand it perfectly.

Best wishes,

Jiang

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casiopea

Quote:

Originally Posted by jiang

However, I still feel confused about the meaning of the word 'that'.

that functions as a relative pronoun. You can leave it in or take it out, like this,

I did not believe (that) there was really any good to be had in tearing me away from my home.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jiang

According to your explanation 'have' bears the meaning 'cause a result'. Is that right?

Actually, 'any good to be had' means, nothing good will be gained, nothing good will come out of (i.e., result) from the action. :wink: