Told by my friend to be true.

[tufguy]

"It was told by my father to be true."

"It can't be wrong. It was told by my friend to be correct."

"It can't be possible. It was told by my friend to be impossible."

Please check.

 

[GoesStation]

You need said in each example.

 

[tufguy]

"It was said by my father to be true."

"It can't be wrong. It was said by my friend to be correct."

"It can't be possible. It was said by my friend to be impossible."

But could you please tell me why we have to use "said" not "told?"

 

[Tarheel]

First, let's look at your sentences. For the first one, say:

My father said it's true.

All of your sentences are, I think, technically correct, but they are, in my opinion, strange and unnatural. Could you rephrase them using active voice?

 

[GoesStation]

"It was said by my father to be true."

<snip>

But could you please tell me why we have to use "said" not "told?"

If you rephrase and simplify the sentence, you get My father said it. If you replace said with told, you need a direct object: My father told me. Although you could possibly say My father told me it, this is unnatural and still requires the direct object.

Now let's make our simplified sentence contain the same information as the original: My father said it was true. You can't replace said with told here because it would become the direct object. For example, ​A dog approached us. My father told it to sit.

 

[tufguy]

First, let's look at your sentences. For the first one, say:

My father said it's true.

All of your sentences are, I think, technically correct, but they are, in my opinion, strange and unnatural. Could you rephrase them using active voice?

"My father said it was true."

"It can't be wrong. My friend said it was correct."

"It can't be possible. My friend said it was posssible."

Okay, are you saying that it is better to use active voice in these kind of sentences? We can't say "my father or friend told this to me?"

 

[emsr2d2]

"My father told this to me" doesn't use the passive. The passive would be "This was told to me by my father", which is very unnatural.

Also, "My father said this to me" is more natural than "My told this to me". The most natural are "My father told me this" and "My father said this to me".

 

[Tarheel]

"My father said it was true."

"It can't be wrong. My friend said it was correct."

"It can't be possible. My friend said it was IMposssible."

Okay, are you saying that it is better to use active voice in these kind of sentences? We can't say "my father or friend told this to me?"

Perhaps:

It can't be possible. My friend (an expert on the subject) said it's not possible.

 

[Tdol]

Okay, are you saying that it is better to use active voice in these kind of sentences?

If there isn't a reason for using the passive, then the sentence is probably better in the active.

 

[Spiral]

"It was told by my father to be true."

"It can't be wrong. It was told by my friend to be correct."

"It can't be possible. It was told by my friend to be impossible."

Please check.

Hmmm... :-?

I would reword these as follows:

1. "My father said it was true." (Avoid passive voice when you can use active voice.)
2. "It can't be wrong. My friend said it is correct."
3. "It can't be possible. My friend said it is impossible."