was kidnapped

Moderator:JackFrost

artart
Posts:96
Joined:2018-03-25, 6:06
was kidnapped

Postby artart » 2021-02-06, 1:28

Which are correct:

1-He was killed to keep him silent.
2-He was killed to be kept silent.

3-He was killed to keep silent.
(meaning: He was killed so that he would keep silent)

4-He was killed in order to keep him silent.
5-He was killed in order to be kept silent.

6) He was kidnapped to work in a mine as a slave.
7) He was kidnapped to become a slave.
8) He was kidnapped to be exploited in a mine as a slave.

azhong

Re: was kidnapped

Postby azhong » 2021-02-06, 5:13

Below is just my guess for fun, and quite perhaps not qualified to stand for your reference:

1 and 2 are good, while 3 isn't. 3 is unclear in its expression.
4 and 5 are fine, too, with the same meaning as 1 and 2, respectively.

I am not sure if 6, 7, and 8 are perfect or not. Personally I might change "to" for "and", especially in 7.
7) He was kidnapped and became a slave.

However, let's just wait for the answers from native speakers.

User avatar
linguoboy
Posts:25540
Joined:2009-08-25, 15:11
Real Name:Da
Location:Chicago
Country:USUnited States (United States)

Re: was kidnapped

Postby linguoboy » 2021-02-23, 19:44

artart wrote:Which are correct:

1-He was killed to keep him silent.
2-He was killed to be kept silent.

3-He was killed to keep silent.
(meaning: He was killed so that he would keep silent)

4-He was killed in order to keep him silent.
5-He was killed in order to be kept silent.

6) He was kidnapped to work in a mine as a slave.
7) He was kidnapped to become a slave.
8) He was kidnapped to be exploited in a mine as a slave.

They're all "correct" in the sense that these are all grammatical sentences in English.

The versions of the first phrase with passive infinitive constructions (2,5) sound a bit stilted to me. In general, I would prefer the active counterparts (1,4).

(7) sounds odd to me. Again, there's nothing grammatically wrong with it, but "become" isn't the usual verb for this kind of circumstance. "He was kidnapped and made a slave" or even "He was kidnapped into slavery" sound much better stylistically.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons


Return to “English”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests