wasn't listened to

[englishhobby]

I have already been told by native speakers of English that it is unnatural to say 'The radio wasn't listened to (when I lived with my parents)'. Does it mean that 'to be listened to' is never used? Can we say 'The lecturers used to be listened to attentively'?

 

[5jj]

Does it mean that 'to be listened to' is never used?

No.

Can we say 'The lecturers used to be listened to attentively'?

We can.

 

[englishhobby]

Why doesn't it work with the radio? Is it because it is an inanimate object? Can we say 'The music was listened to a lot'?

 

[Tarheel]

You can say either one. Is that what you want to know?

 

[Rover_KE]

I have already been told by native speakers of English that it is unnatural to say 'The radio wasn't listened to (when I lived with my parents)'.

That passive sentence is grammatical but unnatural because the active 'Nobody listened to the radio when I lived with my parents' is far more commonly used by native English-speakers.

 

[englishhobby]

That passive sentence is grammatical but unnatural because the active 'Nobody listened to the radio when I lived with my parents' is far more commonly used by native English-speakers.

Yes, I have been told that with 'the radio' it sounds unnatural. With the 'lecturer' or 'the professor' it sounds quite natural, as far as I understand. Does it sound unnatural with 'the music' as well? ('(The) music wasn't listened to when I lived with my parents')

 

[englishhobby]

You can say either one. Is that what you want to know?

Not quite. I want to know if they sound natural, at least in some contexts.

 

[Rover_KE]

In most contexts, including this one, the active voice sounds more natural than the passive.