Active form: passive meaning

JuanTwoThree · Post by **JuanTwoThree** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:07 am

Oh I'm easy. I'd go for any of them:

There are dishes to do. Yes
There are dishes to be done. Yes

I'd probably say the first.

These apples are ready to eat. Yes
These apples are ready for eating. Yup
These apples are ready to be eaten. Yeah

The last though sounds more like they've been washed or cooked or something. I'd go for the first in a shop and the second at home. My missus agrees and says that ready to eat could almost be hyphenated.

The movie is filming in NY.
The movie is being filmed in NY.

I'm not keen on the first for the reasons I mentioned.

JuanTwoThree · Post by **JuanTwoThree** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:11 am

"You've got dishes to be done"

Does that work for you? If not.... why not?

metal56 · Post by **metal56** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:32 am

The last though sounds more like they've been washed or cooked or something.

Yes, I'd read it that way.

How about here?

These apples are ready for shipping.
These apples are ready to be shipped.

Thanks for rest.

metal56 · Post by **metal56** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:33 am

JuanTwoThree wrote:"You've got dishes to be done"

Does that work for you? If not.... why not?

It would only work if the dishes belonged to the addressee.

"You've got dishes to be done. Shall I do them for you?"

Unless you feel it's the same as "You've a job to do."

JuanTwoThree · Post by **JuanTwoThree** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:50 am

Yes, you could imagine a daily saying to her employer "You've got dishes to be done" (ie by me), but not the reverse.

So why say "There's work to be done" to the one person who is going to do said work? The combination of two impersonals seems to work. You know exactly who is going to do the work but it's not going to be said.

It's a bit (whispers) Lewissy, isn't it?

"ready to ship" sounds insiderish again and I wouldn't say it myself, perhaps not to sound too expert.

metal56 · Post by **metal56** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 11:16 am

Yes, you could imagine a daily saying to her employer "You've got dishes to be done" (ie by me), but not the reverse.

So why say "There's work to be done" to the one person who is going to do said work?

Indirect order?

<It's a bit (whispers) Lewissy, isn't it?>

A bit.

"ready to ship" sounds insiderish again and I wouldn't say it myself, perhaps not to sound too expert.

What is insiderish, soon becomes outsiderish. If I order a book as a gift for a friend, I might tell my friend that the book is ready to ship and he'll get it on Monday, for example. I say "might".

JuanTwoThree · Post by **JuanTwoThree** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 11:20 am

I agree. The time these expressions spend as specialist ones can be very short.

metal56 · Post by **metal56** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 11:39 am

JuanTwoThree wrote:I agree. The time these expressions spend as specialist ones can be very short.

I don't think "ship", as a verb, will die.

sbourque · Post by **sbourque** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 10:32 pm

On some Internet sites, when you're buying stuff, you're told "Usually ships in __ days."

I think that in general we should be prepared to see more and more of this kind of shorthand. One of the wonders of English, I'm convinced, is that it can be rassled into purt' near enny shape ya want...

(channeling my Texas relatives there)