Is this sentence natural?
I'd like the source sentence, 1, to be re-written as 2 or 3. Would they be natural?
1. Is that the sort of thing a person like you should say?
2. Is that the sort of thing said by a person like you?
3. Is that the sort of thing said from a person like you?
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Answers · 8
1
I agree with Bill that sentence 2 is grammatically correct and sentence 3 not, but I would add that of the 3, sentence 1 is by far the most natural. I don't think I would ever use the passive here - it adds an unnatural layer of formality.
1
The second sentence is okay. It changes the second part of the sentence from active voice to passive voice.
The third sentence is wrong. In passive voice, the agent always follows the preposition "by".
0
I would actually rewrite the first sentence as, "Is that the sort of thing a person like you *would* say?"
Sentences 2 and 3 don't sound like the sort of things a native speaker *would* say.
See what I did there? :D
0
1. Is that the sort of thing a person like you should say? - fine (should, appropriate or not)
2. Is that the sort of thing said by a person like you? - fine (did, happened or not)
3. Is that the sort of thing said from a person like you? - can't use "from" like this.
Is that the sort of thing we would hear from a person like you?
Is that the sort of thing we would want to hear from a person like you?
Is that the sort of thing we should to hear from a person like you?
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