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passive voice

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Anonymous

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I have a question.
Which of the following sentences is right?

1.Maps must be made constant use of in studying geography.

2. Constant use of maps must be made in studying geography.

3. Constant use must be made of maps in studying geography.
 

RonBee

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Passive voice

Sentences one and three are correct. (In sentence two, "of maps" is in the wrong place.)

Are you an ESL student?

:)
 

dduck

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Re: Passive voice

RonBee said:
Sentences one and three are correct. (In sentence two, "of maps" is in the wrong place.)

Are you an ESL student?

:)

Constant use of maps must be made in studying geography.

I disagree. I see nothing wrong with example 2. "Constant use of maps" can be considered a noun phrase.

Iain
 

RonBee

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Re: Passive voice

dduck said:
RonBee said:
Sentences one and three are correct. (In sentence two, "of maps" is in the wrong place.)

Are you an ESL student?

:)

Constant use of maps must be made in studying geography.

I disagree. I see nothing wrong with example 2. "Constant use of maps" can be considered a noun phrase.

That is exactly my point. I don't see how a constant use of maps can be made.

Of course, I could be wrong. I have been wrong before.

:wink:
 
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sara williams

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ALL those sentences are very clumsy!

Why not simply, "maps must be used constantly when studying geography"??
 

dduck

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Re: Passive voice

RonBee said:
That is exactly my point. I don't see how a constant use of maps can be made.

I had to think long and hard about this one. The key for me is the word "use", it's not a verb. I like to use my good pen to write., but a noun: Noun use is often troublesome. Perhaps, we can restate this example as: The use of nouns is often troublesome.

The other key point is the phrasal verb, "to make use of". The doctor makes use of her time to the best of her ability. It should be obvious now that the word make doesn't imply construction.

As an aside, it seems to me that "make use of" equals "use", i.e. The doctor uses her time ...

Iain
 

RonBee

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Re: Passive voice

  • Re: Constant use of maps must be made in studying geography.


dduck said:
RonBee said:
That is exactly my point. I don't see how a constant use of maps can be made.

I had to think long and hard about this one. The key for me is the word "use", it's not a verb. I like to use my good pen to write., but a noun: Noun use is often troublesome. Perhaps, we can restate this example as: The use of nouns is often troublesome.

The other key point is the phrasal verb, "to make use of". The doctor makes use of her time to the best of her ability. It should be obvious now that the word make doesn't imply construction.

As an aside, it seems to me that "make use of" equals "use", i.e. The doctor uses her time ...

I am well-acquainted with the phrasal verb make use of, but it doesn't appear to me in that sentence. I suppose that is because the relevant words are too far apart. Typical are sentences like He made good use of his time or He was able to make good use of his time. I wouldn't expect to see the relevant words as far apart as they are in the sentence in question.

I'll guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. :)
 

RonBee

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sara williams said:
ALL those sentences are very clumsy!

Why not simply, "maps must be used constantly when studying geography"??

Good suggestion!

:D
 
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