Why do we make a sentence "The book is interesting to read" rather than "The book is interesting to be read"?

[Lucy Lau]

My grammatical knowledge tells me that a sentence like "We read a book." is grammatical , so is true with " The book is read by us" in its passive form. But I just feel confused when I meet a sentence like "The book is interesting to read" instead of "The book is interesting to be read". What might be the cause of the difference? Is it related to the use of infinitives? Or otherwise?

 

[Barque]

so is true with " The book is read by us" in its passive form.

This may be grammatical but it isn't natural. I can't think of a situation where someone might say this. There'd usually be no need to say this in the passive voice.

But I just feel confused when I see meet a sentence like "The book is interesting to read" instead of "The book is interesting to be read".

The book is interesting to read.
This is possible, but considering a book's primary purpose is to be read, the last two words are unnecessary. Most people would just say "This book is interesting".

The book is interesting to be read.
If I've understood you correctly, you're saying this is a better choice. I'm afraid it isn't. I can't imagine this sentence being said.

 

[Barque]

A: I don't know why we carry this. The book isn't read by anyone.
B. That isn't true. The book is read by us. We've read it many times.

Do you think so? I'd have expected to hear the active voice.
A: I don't know why we carry this. No one reads it.
B. That isn't true. We [all] read it. We've read it many times.

(I assume A and B work at a library or a book shop.)

 

[Barque]

I seem to recall that you found topicalization ungrammatical.

I don't know what you're talking about. Maybe you're thinking of someone else.

Is a dislike of the passive and topicalization characteristic of Tamil speakers who have learned to speak English?

I can't say. There are millions of them, and I don't know what topicalization means.

 

[5jj]

Is a dislike of the passive and topicalization characteristic of Tamil speakers who have learned to speak English?

I can't speak for speakers of Tamil, but I did not find the passive construction at all natural in your example.

Incidentally, I am not rabidly anti-passive,

 

[Barque]

I took another look at that thread.

You said, "My first reaction was to say it isn't grammatical, strictly speaking."

I was referring to the specific sentence the OP in that thread asked about. I wasn't referring to topicalization in general.

I guess you didn't read or understand my post in that thread, then.

At that time, no, I didn't read it in detail. I read it now. As it happens, I can imagine myself using a couple of the examples you listed in your post, so your generalisation isn't accurate. And now that I've (sort of) understood what topicalization means, I realise it's fairly common in Tamil.