passenger dropped off

[Ferdie]

Hi,

I can't seem yet to fully understand when not to use relative pronoun and verb to be in a sentence.

Example:

There was a passenger dropped off for you.

Here the phrasal verb dropped off is the action done by a person who dropped off the passenger. So is this sentence in passive voice?

Could you please explain this to me?

[Marius Hancu]

This is a clear passive:

A passenger was (being) dropped off for you.

Yours is so-so passive, as there was is confusing the issue.

What do you mean about relatives? Show example with intended sentence, then we talk.

Do you mean:

There was a passenger who was dropped off for you.
There was a passenger who was being dropped off for you.
There was a passenger who had been dropped off for you.

All correct. I think that the original sentence is a good ellipsis from these two. Not perfect, but good enough. It's not perfect, as esp in the case of the past perfect in my last sentence, your reduction loses the exact time sequence.

[Ferdie]

Ok, sorry for the confusion. But can you just tell me whether the following sentence is in passive or active voice.

There was a passenger dropped off for you.

Thanks!

[Ferdie]

Marius, can you please refer to this site http://international.ouc.bc.ca/chalkntalk/reducedclauses/ and see if my question makes sense.

[Rusty]

Hi,

I can't seem yet to fully understand when not to use relative pronoun and verb to be in a sentence.

Example:

There was a passenger dropped off for you.

Here the phrasal verb dropped off is the action done by a person who dropped off the passenger. So is this sentence in passive voice?

Could you please explain this to me?
Don't let the introductory "There was" confuse you. It is not the subject of the sentence. You should reconstruct the sentence to have the correct meaning, then the subject and verb (passive or active) will be obvious.
There was a passenger (who was) dropped off for you. (Passive).
A passenger was dropped off for you. (Passive).
There was a passenger (who) dropped off for you. (Active).
A passenger dropped off for you. (Active).

[Ferdie]

Don't let the introductory "There was" confuse you. It is not the subject of the sentence. You should reconstruct the sentence to have the correct meaning, then the subject and verb (passive or active) will be obvious.
There was a passenger (who was) dropped off for you. (Passive).
A passenger was dropped off for you. (Passive).
There was a passenger (who) dropped off for you. (Active).
A passenger dropped off for you. (Active).


So the sentence below is in active voice?

There was a passenger dropped off for you.

Am I right?

[Rusty]

So the sentence below is in active voice?

There was a passenger dropped off for you.

Am I right?
It is ambiguous. It could mean:
There was a passenger who dropped off for you. (Active).
There was a passenger who was dropped off for you. (Passive).

[Marius Hancu]

Yes, Rusty's just placed the dot on the i.

[Ferdie]

Yes, Rusty's just placed the dot on the i.

Sorry Marius, but I don't get what you mean here.

[Marius Hancu]

He said exactly what was required, the most important thing.

[Ferdie]

Oh, I see. Thanks!