I was to/ I was said to/ I was told to/ I have been

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pedro8686

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I'd like to know if all sentences below are correct and perhaps what difference is between them. Could someone explain that, please.

1) I was to contact you.
2) I was said to contact you.
3) I have been said to contact you.
4) I was told to contact you.
5) I have been told to contact you.
6) I have been to contact you.
7) I had to contact you.

Cheers


P.S.
Could you also tell me if my question had been correct if I have written it in the following way?
I'd like to know if all the sentences below are correct and perhaps what is the difference between them?
I think that one would be incorrect because of the wrong order of words which should be different in that kind of question. The same as in Could you please tell me where Church Street is? Am I right? And what about that first the?
 
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pyoung

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I'd like to know if all sentences below are correct and perhaps what difference is between them. Could someone explain that, please.

1) I was to contact you. (This means, "Someone told me to contact you." Normally, the sentence would contain more information, such as, "I was to contact you and give you the details, but I could not find your phone number.")
2) I was said to contact you. (This one doesn't really work. 'Said to' means 'it has been said that', so a possible sentence might be, "I was said to have contacted you, but we both know I didn't.")
3) I have been said to contact you. (Same as #2. I don't think this form is the one you want to express your meaning.)
4) I was told to contact you. (This means, "Someone told me to contact you.")
5) I have been told to contact you. (This sentence sounds very natural. Its meaning is similar to #4.)
6) I have been to contact you. (This is possible, but not likely. It means, "I have gone somewhere to contact you." Again, not the meaning you want.)
7) I had to contact you. ("It was necessary that I contact you." or, "I was required to contact you.")

Cheers


P.S.
Could you also tell me if my question would have been correct if I had written it in the following way?
I'd like to know if all the sentences below are correct and perhaps what are the differences between them? Yes, this sentence is correct.
I think that one would be incorrect because of the wrong order of words which should be different in that kind of question. The same as in Could you please tell me where Church Street is? Am I right? Your church Street question is fine. And what about that first the?
Sorry, not sure what that first the is.

I hope this is helpful,

Petra
 

jctgf

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Hi there,
Is it possibe that the first one also means "I was supposed to contact you"?
Thanks.
 

jlinger

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May I also step in to remind the writer that, at the last polling, 35% of the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language still objected to the use of "contact" as a verb.

I don't necessarily support that, but I do point it out, so that the writer does not run the risk of offending 35% of his or her audience.

If you have any complaints about this, please contact the Usage Panel.
 
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