Football

[Oros]

1. The match will be played between Sweden and England on Saturday.

2. Sweden and England will play the match on Saturday.


Are both sentences correct?

 

[Ed the Editor]

Hi Oros,

Yes. They're both fine.

-- Ed

 

[soupdragon78]

I agree. The only difference is that the first sentence is passive and is better suited to writing. The second one is an active sentence and is slightly more informal for writing and better if spoken. Both sentences are very well written.
Soup.

 

[Oros]

I thank both of you for the replies.

After the match, I would write the following:

3.The match was played by Sweden and England.

Is the third sentence correct?

 

[suzi br]

I agree. The only difference is that the first sentence is passive and is better suited to writing. The second one is an active sentence and is slightly more informal for writing and better if spoken. Both sentences are very well written.
Soup.

Why do you think the passive is "better" than an active form? I generally train my students to avoid using the passive unless they are describing a situation where the agent is actually unknown.

 

[suzi br]

After the match, I would write the following:

3.The match was played by Sweden and England.

Is the third sentence correct?

Yes it is fine!

 

[shamblesuk]

Techincally correct, but sounds very odd abd I cannot think of how I would use it. I would say

The match/game was between Sweden and England.

I thank both of you for the replies.

After the match, I would write the following:

3.The match was played by Sweden and England.

Is the third sentence correct?

 

[soupdragon78]

Hi Suze.
I said that the second (active) sentence is better for spoken english. I agree that the passive should generally be avoided in speech unless the agent is unknown or you don't want to mention the agent directly.

 

[suzi br]

I guess is sounds odd because its absolute "correctness" would depend on the context.

If you were asked a question this could be a conceivable answer.

In an account of the game maybe you'd expect these details to be given in some other way.

 

[suzi br]

Hi soupy. Aye - I saw that you made that distinciton about speech.
I still wouldn't agree that passive is much use in writing really.

I find that many studnets tend to use it in essays to effect an "educated" tone which ends up being laboured!

 

[soupdragon78]

I'm no grammarian. Perhaps I should rephrase my post. Both sentences are well written. The only difference is that first sentence sounds like something you would read and the second sounds more like something someone might say.

 

[soupdragon78]

True. I had some advanced students who would use it all the time. It is very commonly picked up from reading lots of newspapers.

 

[Oros]

The match was played by ........


I thought the above is flawed. You can't play the match; only people could play the match.

I am a bit curious. I want to hear direct from the horse's mouth.

 

[soupdragon78]

You want to take this one Suzy?

 

[suzi br]

You want to take this one Suzy?

LOL

I'm not really sure what your question means, oros.

The match was played by ........

This construction is fine; passive in structure.

A match is played by teams of people and the names Sweden, England etc are just shorthand for the teams.

 

[soupdragon78]

Hi Oros.
This link explains it well: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_actpass.html

 

[panjandrum]

There is something odd about this emphasis on "the match".
In normal conversation, the match gets no mention.

1&2 Sweden will play England on Saturday.
3 Who was playing on Saturday? Sweden played England.

 

[maxiogee]

1. The match will be played between Sweden and England on Saturday.

2. Sweden and England will play the match on Saturday.


Are both sentences correct?

1 sounds wrong - "the quarter-final, between Sweden and England, will be played on Saturday" is how that construction would more often be heard. As panjandrum says, the emphasis on "match" is misplaced - unless one is actually discussing the stages of a championship such as the rounds of the World Cup

 

[Oros]

I thank everybody for the replies.


1. Sweden and England is going to play a football match.

2. A football match is going to play by Sweden and England.

3. A football match will be played by Sweden and England.

Is the second sentence fine?

 

[suzi br]

1. Is not quite right - you need a plural verb since there are two teams.. they ARE going to play.

2. A football match is going to be played ...

3. is ok