Is this incorrect?

Question

Is this construction wrong? "It has been suggested to be..." I looked it up but in google all the results start with "it has been suggested that..."
This is the sentence: "It has been suggested to be a great solution to (for?) his problem"

Is it the same with the word "thought"? It has been thought to be a great solution to his problem.

Thanks!

It is correct either way, however, with the word "soloution", "to" is preferred. - rac1, Jul 2, 2017

Answer 1

Clevine:

I don't think it is technically wrong, but I like this way better. It sounds more natural to me.

It has been suggested as a great solution for his problem.

It was suggested as a great solution for his problem.

In second place:

It has been suggested that it is a great solution to his problem.

(But I definitely prefer the first way)

It has been thought to be a great solution to his problem.

To me "has (or had) been thought" in itself sounds unnatural or an attempt to be overly flowery with the language.

We used to think it was a great solution to his problem.

Previously, some people thought it was a great solution for his problem. m

People have thought for years....

All kinds of ways, in my opinion, to get rid of the "has been" without changing the meaning.

"as a great solution" is another great solution. :) - bosquederoble, Jul 2, 2017

Thanks Bosque. I think using the full infinitive "to verb" is best to avoid if you want to sound natural in many cases. - DilKen, Jul 2, 2017

I honestly would say "It has been thought to be" without issue, but my best grades were not in English. :) - bosquederoble, Jul 2, 2017

I was told by a teacher that it was wrong. Maybe it wasn't wrong, it just wasn't the best lexical choice.Thank you both! - Clevine, Jul 2, 2017

By the way DilKen, did you find the answer to your question about the subjunctive? I just remembered a book that you may like if you enjoy grammar. It has a thorough chapter about the subjunctive (I don't know if you'll find you answer there though) - Clevine, Jul 2, 2017

It's called "El uso del verbo y del gerundio en español" by Alicia Zorrilla and you can find it online if you are interested. - Clevine, Jul 2, 2017

Clevine: I gave that website my full story about how I am seeing the present subjunctive used with conditional and I asked them if this was OK, etc. They just referred me to a wiki grammar page that says there same things as every other source - DilKen, Jul 2, 2017

I've checked. With conditional, as well as all past tenses, use the past imperfect subjunctive when the subjunctive is called for. - DilKen, Jul 2, 2017

So, using present subjunctive with conditional appears to be incorrect grammatically, but some people use it and it sounds OK to them. (including you and Guillermo) - DilKen, Jul 2, 2017

I'm sorry to hear that they weren't able to help you :( maybe you should conduct a suvery with all the Spanish speakers on this site to see how many use it :P haha. One thing I know for sure is that you are going to make me think twice before I use it hah - Clevine, Jul 2, 2017

LOL. Guillermo said the same thing when I asked him how to translate "Would you like your grandson to go to Mars someday? He said now he would say fuera, but before he would say vaya. :) - DilKen, Jul 2, 2017

Although I tend to agree with both of you that if you are just using gustaría or quisiera for politeness instead of quiero it makes sense to use the present subjunctive for a wish that is likely to be fulfilled. - DilKen, Jul 2, 2017

Answer 2

I am not an English major, but I have been speaking English more than 50 years. It sounds fine to me, both with suggested and thought, the way you have written it. I am happy with to or for, but I probably would pick for in my natural speech--- I would never say to is wrong though. And it would not surprise if some preferred to there.

It has been suggested that it is a great solution... would be how I think you need it if you chose that way, but honestly I like your choice of to be, and you sentences don't give me any problems.

Answer 3

Hello Clevine,

Welcome to our Spanishdict community forum

You asked:

Is this construction wrong? "It has been suggested to be..." I looked it up but in google all the results start with "it has been suggested that..." This is the sentence: "It has been suggested to be a great solution to (for?) his problem" Is it the same with the word "thought"? It has been thought to be a great solution to his problem.Thanks!

As a native English speaker, also with over 50 years experience of speaking the language, I would say that it sounds more natural to say:

It was suggested as a great solution to his problem.

You could also say:

It was put forward as a great solution to his problem.

It was proposed as a great solution to his problem.

I would not say:

It has been suggested ...but,

it had been suggested as a great solution to his problem

I hope this helps