Concern or to be concerned?

[knowwhat]

Dear Teachers

I am confused with the difference in meaning and usage of "concern" and " be concerned"

We are concerned (concern) to learn from the XXX that the service rendered by our ground staff in Taipei fell short of your expectation whilst checking in for flight XXX on 6XXX and we are sincerely sorry for all the frustration and inconvenience you were caused on this occasion. We learn from our record that your travel agent has arranged your booking .................. must apologise for any poor impression created by the staff concerned (concerned staff)

I understand the 1st "concerned in the above paragraph is acted like a "adj" but wouldnt it be ok to just put a verb "concern" there?

The 2nd word in red, can the word "concerned" be put at the front of staff? if not, when should it be put after the verb and when should it be put before the verb?

Many thanks
Williams

 

[colloquium]

Dear Teachers

I am confused with the difference in meaning and usage of "concern" and " be concerned"

We are concerned (concern) to learn from the XXX that the service rendered by our ground staff in Taipei fell short of your expectation whilst checking in for flight XXX on 6XXX and we are sincerely sorry for all the frustration and inconvenience you were caused on this occasion. We learn from our record that your travel agent has arranged your booking .................. must apologise for any poor impression created by the staff concerned (concerned staff)

I understand the 1st "concerned in the above paragraph is acted like a "adj" but wouldnt it be ok to just put a verb "concern" there?

No because concerned is the complement of the verb are and refers (or links) to the subject we.


The 2nd word in red, can the word "concerned" be put at the front of staff? if not, when should it be put after the verb and when should it be put before the verb?

No because concerned would modify staff (in concerned staff) - meaning the staff are concerned. The staff concerned means the staff involved.


Many thanks
Williams

I am not a teacher.

 

[MrPedantic]

Hello W.,

"Concerned" can mean "worried" or "relevant". In this second sense, "concerned" is placed after the noun or noun phrase to which it relates.

The first example in your text is "worried", while the second is "relevant".

You could replace "We are concerned" in your example with "It concerns us"; but that might seem slightly old-fashioned to some readers.

Best wishes,

MrP

 

[knowwhat]

I am not a teacher.

thanks for your reply

but how come this cant be applied with word "regret"

in my previous post, I enquired the use of " I am regretted" but was told not to use the word "regret" in passive

Many thanks

 

[colloquium]

thanks for your reply

but how come this cant be applied with word "regret"

in my previous post, I enquired the use of " I am regretted" but was told not to use the word "regret" in passive

Many thanks

Did you want "I am regretted" to mean I am feeling regret?

If you did intend to express such a meaning, you should have used the adjective form of regret after the verb "to be" (see below).

Regretted is the past participle of regret - it is a verb, and when you have "to be" + a past participle (such as regretted), you have a passive construction (or an incorrectly formed one).

The adjective form of regret is regretful.

I am regretful.

The adjective form of concern is concerned.

I am concerned.


Let's explain this in more depth


The past participle/past tense form of regret is regretted, but the adjective form is regretful.

The past participle/past tense form of concern is concerned, and the adjective form is also concerned.

She concerned (involved) herself with every aspect of the business when she was alive. (past tense)

The concerned (worried) parents looked everywhere for their child. (adjective)

However

He regretted not attending his brother's party. (past tense)

The regretful man wished he hadn't divorced his wife. (adjective)

So identifying the adjective version of concerned can be difficult, as both the adjective and past verb forms are exactly the same, unlike regret which uses two clearly different forms to differentiate the words (regretted/regretful).

Perhaps I have made this far more complicated than it needs to be! I hope it answers some of your questions nonetheless.

 

[MrPedantic]

As a footnote:

Some passive forms of the verb "to regret" may be used in formal English, especially to express "regret" in a neutral way, e.g.

1. It was regretted by everyone present that XYZ had happened.
2. It is to be regretted that XYZ has happened.

Best wishes,

MrP

 

[knowwhat]

Did you want "I am regretted" to mean I am feeling regret?

If you did intend to express such a meaning, you should have used the adjective form of regret after the verb "to be" (see below).

Regretted is the past participle of regret - it is a verb, and when you have "to be" + a past participle (such as regretted), you have a passive construction (or an incorrectly formed one).

The adjective form of regret is regretful.

I am regretful.

The adjective form of concern is concerned.

I am concerned.


Let's explain this in more depth


The past participle/past tense form of regret is regretted, but the adjective form is regretful.

The past participle/past tense form of concern is concerned, and the adjective form is also concerned.

She concerned (involved) herself with every aspect of the business when she was alive. (past tense)

The concerned (worried) parents looked everywhere for their child. (adjective)

However

He regretted not attending his brother's party. (past tense)

The regretful man wished he hadn't divorced his wife. (adjective)

So identifying the adjective version of concerned can be difficult, as both the adjective and past verb forms are exactly the same, unlike regret which uses two clearly different forms to differentiate the words (regretted/regretful).

Perhaps I have made this far more complicated than it needs to be! I hope it answers some of your questions nonetheless.

Hi colloquium

Thanks for your detailed explanation

About different forms of adjective, I understand that regret (v) plus ful will be adjective. However, some verb (Past participle or Gerund) can also be an ajective to describe nouns.

for example: worried parents, annoying voice.

then why cant the "regretted" (past participle) to be used to describe the nouns?

 

[colloquium]

Hi colloquium

Thanks for your detailed explanation

About different forms of adjective, I understand that regret (v) plus ful will be adjective. However, some verb (Past participle or Gerund) can also be an ajective to describe nouns.

for example: worried parents, annoying voice.

then why cant the "regretted" (past participle) to be used to describe the nouns?

I wish I could tell you.

The simple fact is that regretted cannot be used as an adjective. The adjective forms of regret are not participles unlike the forms associated with verbs such as annoy and worry.

Perhaps the linguistic field of Morphology can offer an explanation; however I am not academically equppied to deal with such a subject.

 

[knowwhat]

I wish I could tell you.

The simple fact is that regretted cannot be used as an adjective. The adjective forms of regret are not participles unlike the forms associated with verbs such as annoy and worry.

Perhaps the linguistic field of Morphology can offer an explanation; however I am not academically equppied to deal with such a subject.

Thanks Colloquium for your input

any english veterians can share their opinion?