Spanish language learning forums - My whole family thinks that ghosts exist.

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ROBINDESBOIS

January 14, 2014 02:22 AM

My whole family thinks that ghosts exist.

My whole family thinks that ghosts exist.:?:
if we want to make an impersonal passive sentence out of this sentence, how would we do it?
Just like this:

My whole family is thought to believe in ghosts.:?:
It is thought in my family that ghosts exist.:?:
Ghosts are thought to exist

I don´t think this is the best example of a sentence to be paraphrased.

poli	January 14, 2014 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROBINDESBOIS (Post 146201)

My whole family thinks that ghosts exist.:?:
if we want to make an impersonal passive sentence out of this sentence, how would we do it?
Just like this:

My whole family is thought to believe in ghosts.:?:
It is the belief in my family that ghosts exist.:?::good:
Ghosts are thought to exist in my family.

I don´t think this is the best example of a sentence to be paraphrased.

The belief in the existence of ghosts is a credence shared among all the members of my family.

ROBINDESBOIS

January 14, 2014 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poli (Post 146215)

The belief in the existence of ghosts is a credence shared among all the members of my family.

It is believed in my family that ghosts exist.

Rusty

January 14, 2014 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROBINDESBOIS (Post 146221)

It is believed in my family that ghosts exist.

:good:
:thumbsup:

poli	January 14, 2014 05:56 PM

That sentence is OK, but you should know that it is ambiguous.
It is believed in my family that ghosts exists may also mean that others think that there are ghosts in your family.

AngelicaDeAlquezar

January 14, 2014 06:32 PM

Wouldn't it be simpler "my whole family believes in ghosts"? :thinking:

poli	January 14, 2014 07:47 PM

Those are words truly spoken, Angela. It's been said that the passive is more widely used in English than it in Spanish, but direct and simply spoken English may be heard as well:lol:

Rusty

January 14, 2014 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poli (Post 146224)

It is believed in my family that ghosts exists may also mean that others think that there are ghosts in your family.

I disagree.
The prepositional phrase 'in my family' definitely ties to 'it is believed'. It is the family who believes it. What does 'it' refer to? The relative clause 'that ghosts exist'. It is the family who believes that ghosts exist. No one else was mentioned. No one else can be inferred.

poli	January 14, 2014 08:53 PM

Substitute it is believed with they say. It is believed, they say, it is said are interchangeable. I agree that the sentence favors that the family believes in ghosts simply by the placement of the word that in the sentence, but depending on context the other meaning may prevail.

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