[Grammar] fun to learn and learning is fun

Status
Not open for further replies.

Oceanlike

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2014
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Singapore
Current Location
Singapore
I am somewhat confused with active and passive voice.

Is this sentence active voice?
- It is fun to learn English

Is this sentence passive voice?
- Learning English is fun

What is the key to differentiating between active and passive voice?

Thank you! :-D
 

Matthew Wai

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2013
Member Type
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
China
Current Location
China
I consider both 'to learn' and 'learning' active, but I am not a teacher.
 
Last edited:

Oceanlike

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2014
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Singapore
Current Location
Singapore
Thank you, Matthew! May I know how to rephrase it in passive voice? :-D
 

Matthew Wai

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2013
Member Type
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
China
Current Location
China
I consider 'to be learnt' and 'being learnt' passive, but I am not a teacher.
 

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
There is no natural-sounding passive voice version, nor, as I see it, any reason to try to create one.
 

Matthew Wai

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2013
Member Type
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
China
Current Location
China
Are the following natural-sounding?

'The language to be learnt by all is English.'
'The language being learnt is English.'

Not a teacher.
 

teechar

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Feb 18, 2015
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
Iraq
Current Location
Iraq
They're not passive!
 

Matthew Wai

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2013
Member Type
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
China
Current Location
China
The sentences are not passive, but are the phrases 'to be learnt' and 'being learnt' passive?
 

Oceanlike

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2014
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Singapore
Current Location
Singapore
Gosh! I'm confused.......There is so much that I don't know :cry:

I thought these examples brought up by Matthew were passive....:-(

- 'The language to be learnt by all is English.'

- 'The language being learnt is English.'
 
Last edited:

Matthew Wai

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2013
Member Type
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
China
Current Location
China
I thought these examples brought up by Matthew were passive....:-(
I think the infinitive phrase and the gerund phrase rather than the sentences are passive, but I am not a teacher.
 

teechar

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Feb 18, 2015
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
Iraq
Current Location
Iraq
I thought these examples brought up by Matthew were passive.

The main clause in both sentences is "The language is English." The reduced relative clauses in the middle of those sentences, just provide extra information.

The language [which is to be learnt by all] is English.
The language [which is being learnt] is English.

You can see that both are active sentences.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top