Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[angel-dolphin]

hello everyone:) thanks for reading my message.

well, i have a question about the word "drown."
i found that "drowned" and "was drowned" mean the same.

i found this sentence on a textbook...
"If it had not been for your timely rescue, the child would have been drowned to death."

as i take, the sentence also could be
"..., the child would have drowned..." right?

bit the dictionary says that "be drowned to death" is not
a collect sentece since to drown means(includs the meaning) to be dead.
so that it has two parts that means the same, i mean almost the same.

if it's true then, does that mean that the sentence on the textbook
is wrong?

well, i don't know if i could have shown you what i want to know clearly,
but i hope somebody would help me.

thanks,
angel-dolphin

[pugachevV]

Yes. If you are drowned you are dead.

[bud]

Using a phrase such as "drowned to death" is called redundancy. Unfortunately, you'll see a lot of that in English. I don't think it is incorrect, but usually it is poor style.

[angel-dolphin]

wow, thanks guys!
you helped me a lot.
thanks again!