My bad. I am to blame.

[jasveron]

Does "I am to blame" mean "I am to be blamed"?
The former seems to be used more frequently but can I use the latter instead?
I don't really undestand why "I am to blame" is correct actually.
To me, it reads more like "I am to blame (someone)" instead of "I am blamed by others".

 

[5jj]

I am to blame is correct and natural in this sense; I am to be blamed is not.

 

[charliedeut]

"My bad. I am to blame" = "My mistake. It's my fault".

charliedeut

 

[BobK]

...
I don't really undestand why "I am to blame" is correct actually.
To me, it reads more like "I am to blame (someone)" instead of "I am blamed by others".

:-? Why have you made the arbitrary deision to insert an implied word that changes the grammar of 'to blame'? One could insert a different implied phrase that would leave the grammar of 'to blame' unchanged: 'I am the one (who it is appropriate for someone) to blame.' This is not one of those cases where, frustratingly for students, teachers say 'I know it's illogical, but it's the way we say it.'

But that extended version (with 'who it is appropriate for someone') is not very elegant or natural, and as 5jj says, 'I am to blame' is just right!

b

 

[TheParser]

I don't really undestand why "I am to blame" is correct actually.

NOT A TEACHER

Hello, Jasveron,

Maybe "I am to blame" is a shorter way to say "I am the person to blame."


Sincerely yours,


James

 

[abaka]

I wouldn't be so dismissive of "I am to be blamed". "I am to blame" is preferable, but the passive voice is not wrong, and hundreds of thousands of examples can be found.

That said, the active construction is a good idiom to bag.