Sasha
Professional Teacher
They heard the door ... up. Hello! Could you help me with this question. They heard the door ... up. A. push B. pushed C. being pushed D. to be pushed
Sep 24, 2018 5:11 PM
Answers · 12
4
All of these are odd unless you are referring to a door in the floor such as a trap door. A normal door in the wall would be pushed open, not up. Assuming it was a trap door, then A, B, and C could all be used, but not D. A would be more correct used with 'upwards'.
September 24, 2018
2
Only C is correct because a door cannot push itself. It has to 'be' pushed by someone, in the present moment the only correct term is 'being' pushed. I agree with Sharon. A door is most commonly pushed 'open' unless it is located somewhere below us, like in a floor.
September 24, 2018
2
Hi Sasha, For the sake of simplicity, I would like to change "push up" to "open" before I explain. You may change it back to "push up" later. They heard the door ___________. A: open B: opened C: being opened D: to be opened Option A: Though the door cannot perform an action on its own, we will come across sentences such as "I heard the phone ring", "I heard the door creak." and so on. In this case, it is understood that someone called, causing the phone to ring; a wind blew, causing the door to move slightly and creak. The door is a non-living thing and cannot perform an action on its own, but it appears to be as it is responding to a force. Hence, from this perspective, Option A is possible. Option B: When we use sense verbs (e.g. heard, saw, watched) in the past tense, the subsequent verb is used in the bare infinitive form. Examples: I saw him fall. / I watched him cry. In these examples, "fall" and "cry" are in the bare-infinitive form, meaning without the word "to". Therefore, Option B is impossible. (Reference URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/youmeus/learnit/learnitv226.shtml) (Look under the sub-heading: Bare infinitive only) Option C is certainly possible. By using "being", the sentence is in the passive voice and the focus is on the door being the receiver of an a pushing force. Examples: They heard the door being opened. / They heard the door being pushed up. Option D uses "to be", which indicates an intention to act in the future. How can they "heard" (past tense) when the action takes place in the future? This eliminates Option D. I hope this helps you.
September 24, 2018
2
Hi Sasha, B and C are correct!
September 24, 2018
1
C. being pushed
September 24, 2018
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