Macbeth hoped to succeed Duncan

Joined
Jul 2, 2023
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Hindi
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
Active Voice:
Macbeth hoped to succeed Duncan
Passive Voice:
It was hoped by Macbeth that he would succeed Duncan

Source: Wren&Martin High School Grammar Ex62-1
---

Question: What does it meant by the following sentence and how is it different from the passive voice statement presented above?

It was hoped by Macbeth to succeed Duncan.
 
Active Voice:
Macbeth hoped to succeed Duncan
Passive Voice:
It was hoped by Macbeth that he would succeed Duncan

Source: Wren&Martin High School Grammar Ex62-1
---

Question: What does it is meant by the following sentence and how is it different from the passive voice statement presented above?

It was hoped by Macbeth to succeed Duncan.
It means nothing because it's not grammatical. It's different because it's not grammatical. Did you write that final sentence yourself?
 
Regardless of whether these sentences are strictly ungrammatical, both are awful! (though the latter is worse). The passive voice should not be attempted for this context, unless it's:

It was hoped that Macbeth would succeed Duncan.

Here, the dummy It refers to other people outside of the context. You shouldn't use It as subject with Macbeth in the by-agent phrase. If Macbeth is meant as the 'hoper', the sentence absolutely should be in an active voice.
 
Thanks post #4 helps.

Yes, I did write the final sentence in #1 myself to get an opinion if the sentence actually holds meaning, but as you all pointed its grammatically incorrect.

However, the first "passive sentence" of #1 is something that I quoted as-is from Wren n Martin's answer key.
 
Back
Top