The pants John wears.... or John wears the pants....
Is "The pants John wears are brown corduroy" a valid English sentence? It sounds awkward to me but I don't know what the grammar rules are. Any suggestions?
(I'll work with the Spanish translation after I get the English sentence) Gracias.
6 Answers
You have identified the use of the passive and active voice. They are both grammatically correct, but the active voice is generally preferred for clarity.
Passive voice (using forms of the verb 'to be') make it less clear who is doing what to whom.
Active voice uses an action verb and makes it clear who is the actor, who is the subject and what is happening.
Click here for an explanation in English about the difference.
If he's currently wearing them I'd stick to the present progressive.
John is wearing brown corduroy pants. 
It's a little less unwieldy.
It sounds like he wears them all the time, like the girls hair is brown.
Hmmm..
If John is currently wearing the pants, you might say "The pants that John is wearing are brown corduroy."
On the other hand, if you mean to say that John is partial to wearing brown corduroy, you can say "John wears brown corduroy pants."
It is a valid English sentence, but it might sound better to say John wears brown corduroy pants.
That is a complete sentence in English.
