At 14:26:03 on Mon, 24 Mar 2008, myname <lslfkjs@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in
<47e7abff$0$869$ba4acef3@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>:
>About sentences 3, 6 and 7 (duplication of Mel), if we were to use
>another name (Leslie), they would be correct, wouldn't they ?
>
>3) It is a picnic that Mel thinks is going to be enjoyed by Leslie
>6) Mel thinks a picnic is going to be enjoyed by Leslie
>7) Mel thinks that a picnic is going to be enjoyed by Leslie
Yes, they would all be grammatically correct, although they are not
"natural" English. As a rule of thumb, the passive voice is best
avoided(!). "Natural" English would incline towards:
3) It is a picnic that Mel thinks Leslie is going to enjoy
5) Mel thinks Leslie is going to enjoy a picnic
7) Mel thinks that Leslie is going to enjoy a picnic
One particular difference between the three sentences is that, although
they all refer to "a picnic", the first one clearly refers to a
*specific* picnic; the other two refer to Leslie enjoying any possible
picnic, but not a specific one. What makes the difference is the "It
is" at the start of the first sentence; this indicates that a
particular picnic ("it") is the subject of the sentence.
--
Molly Mockford
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little tem****ary
safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety - Benjamin Franklin
(My Reply-To address *is* valid, though may not remain so for ever.)
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