Parents wonder when a sick child is not too sick to send to school

[JACEK1]

Hello everybody!

In my opinion, "a sick child is not too sick to send to school" means "a sick child is not too sick to be sent to school".

I think that when the doer/subject of a sentence is mentioned it is common to use "a sick child is not too sick to send to school" which means "a sick child is not too sick to be sent to school".

One might as well say "a sick child is not too sick for me to send to school", which means "a sick child is not very sick, so/then I can send him / her to school".

Under what circumstances/in what conditions is the structure "a sick child is not too sick to send to school"/"a sick child is not too sick to be sent to school" used?

Thank you.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...nd-to-school/2012/02/21/gIQAgvVTeR_story.html

In case you have any doubts, this is not a request for proofreading. I need not do my homework, either.

 

[Jaskin]

Hi,
Please note I'm not a teacher nor a native speaker;

Have a look at this link.

Cheers

 

[MikeNewYork]

You are basically asking about the active voice versus the passive voice. In one case someone sends a child to school (active). In the other case the child is being sent to school (passive). They both can work.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Hi,
Please note I'm not a teacher nor a native speaker;

Have a look at this link.

Cheers

I am confused. What does a link about headlines have to do with the OP's question?

 

[Jaskin]

Hi,
Please note I'm not a teacher not a native speaker,

Under what circumstances/in what conditions is the structure "a sick child is not too sick to send to school"[STRIKE]/"a sick child is not too sick to be sent to school"[/STRIKE] used?

I think it answers the question. The example sentence is a headline and is missing the auxiliary verb be;

In my opinion, "a sick child is not too sick to send to school" means "a sick child is not too sick to be sent to school".

The grammar of that sentence follows "the 8 guidelines". Knowing how to write a headline would help to understand the peculiarity of its grammatical structure.

Cheers

 

[MikeNewYork]

But this is not a headline. This is a difference between active and passive voice.

 

[JACEK1]

The headline "Parents wonder when a sick child is not too sick to send to school" contains the structure "not too sick to send to school".

 

[Raymott]

The headline "Parents wonder when a sick child is not too sick to send to school" contains the structure "not too sick to send to school".

Sure, and a headline saying "Parents wonder when a sick child is not too sick to be sent to school" contains the structure "not too sick to be sent to school". What then?

 

[Jaskin]

Hi,
My bad, I am sorry I misunderstand the issue at hand.
My first, wrong, impression was that the sentence was missing something so I jumped to the conclusion that it could be something left out just because it is a headline; hence the link.
I am sorry if it caused any confusion.

Cheers

 

[JACEK1]

It's an answer to MikeNewYork's question. That's all.

I think the question of using the active infinitive "to send" or the passive infinitive "to be sent" has something to do with the following structures:

Let me use other verbs as an example:

* We can say: There is a lot of work to do / to be done but I have a lot of work to do NOT I have a lot of work to be done.
** It is common to say: This bed is too short (for me) to lie in (it). We would not say: This bed is too short to be lain in (it).
*** During his stay in Africa, he picked up/learnt some gardening techniques to take to his country (During his stay in Africa, he picked up/learnt some gardening techniques which he could take to his country). Again, we would not use: During his stay in Africa, he picked up/learnt some gardening techniques to be taken to his country but we could say: During the stay in Africa, some gardening techniques were picked up/learnt to use / to be used in his country.

My conclusion is as follows:

If the doer of an action is mentioned, only the active infinitive "to send" can be used.

If there is no doer and passive voice occurs, both forms the active infinitive "to send" and the passive infinitive "to be sent" can be used.

The verbs mentioned by me are only used as an example.

In case I am mistaken, please put me right on that.

Could someone express his/her opinion on that?

Thank you.

I am very eager to know your outlook on that.

Somebody help me please. The structures mean a lot to me.

 

[MikeNewYork]

<<<If the doer of an action is mentioned, only the active infinitive "to send" can be used.>>>

No. The "doer" can exist in the passive voice, but not as the subject. "The package was to be sent by John."

 

[Raymott]

In case I am mistaken, please put me right on that.

I believe you are mistaken.
"Parents wonder when a sick child is not too sick to be sent to school."
This doesn't have the exact structure of your sentences. Firstly there is no specific person mentioned as the subject. Parents in general could wonder when children in general are not too sick to be sent to school.
An analogous sentence to yours might be 1. "A parent often wonders when their sick child is not too sick to send to school." I agree that this sounds better than, 2. "A parent often wonders when their sick child is not too sick to be sent to school."
But even so, this last sentence is not wrong. Nor is, 3. "Sally wonders whether her daughter, Jane, is not too sick to be sent to school."

You have chosen examples that sound wrong. There is an explanation for each of them - which I won't go into because it's simply a matter of how the sentence is written. But take the first sentence, "I have a lot of work to be done." I agree that's awkward. But if I said, 4. "Every day, I wonder how much work there is to be done", meaning "by me", that is not awkward.

Your rules could form the basis for use by a language. But they don't apply to English.
If we say sentences like 2, 3, 4, and if they are held generally to be acceptable, then there has to be something else about the sentences you've chosen that make them sound wrong.