Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[sleeper]

Hi, there.

Today I'd like to ask you about the following sentences.
Look at them.

#1. He is loved by children.
#2. This pencil is bought by a lot of students every day.
#3. Studying math is interesting for me.

Do they sound a little funny?

In my opinion,
#1 should be "He is loved by the children."
#2 should be "This type of pencil is bought by a lot of students every day."
#3 should be "Studying math is interesting to me."

What do you think?

I'm waiting for your answers.

Thanks.

[2006]

1...Both are correct but have different meanings.
"He is loved by children." means that (all)(most)(many) children love him. Adding the means that one is talking about specific children. If a parent is talking about his or her children, he or she will say "He is loved by the children."


2..."This type of pencil........" is most correct, but native speakers will often omit "type of" because they all know that the meaning is "This type of pencil.....", even when they just say "This pencil....".

3..."to me" is correct.