Nero was alleged to have burnt Rome

ROBINDESBOIS

June 06, 2010 03:55 AM

Nero was alleged to have burnt Rome

Nero was alleged to have burnt Rome
Rome was alleged to have been burnt by Nero.

Are these sentences correct?

Perikles

June 06, 2010 04:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROBINDESBOIS (Post 85521)

Nero was alleged to have burnt Rome :good:
Rome was alleged to have been burnt by Nero.:thinking::bad:

Are these sentences correct?

Possibly yes, but the second one sounds clumsy to me. To allege means to claim, plead, usually a legal term involving a person. To me, it is messy in a passive sentence because it is a passive in itself, so you would normally say "It was alleged that Rome was burnt by Nero."

ROBINDESBOIS

June 06, 2010 04:24 AM

Right ! Thanks Perikles.

JPablo

June 06, 2010 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perikles (Post 85522)

Wouldn't be even more 'normal' to say,
"Allegedly, Rome was burnt by Nero." ?

(Por aquello de 'lo bueno, si breve, dos veces bueno', ¿no?) :)

Perikles

June 07, 2010 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPablo (Post 85575)

Wouldn't be even more 'normal' to say,
"Allegedly, Rome was burnt by Nero." ?

(Por aquello de 'lo bueno, si breve, dos veces bueno', ¿no?) :)

It depends when the allegation takes place. 'Allegedly' means the modern historian thinks that. 'It was alleged' means that at the time, they thought that. Not quite the same, and I was trying to keep as near as possible to the sense of the original sentence.

JPablo

June 07, 2010 12:51 AM

Thank you. Good point.

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