Talk:attempt

double passives
According to Garner's fourth edition, Recasting of the first passive verb form into the active voice clarifies the sense: The prisoners were ordered to be shot → Active/Passive: He ordered them (to be) shot Yet, in the following example, a recasting of the first passive verb into the active voice does not make sense: ''The contention has been attempted to be made. → He attempted it to be made''. The last-quoted sentence is un-English What does the author exactly mean by the vague expressions "not make sense" or "be un-English"? Secondly, would He attempted the contention made be a better option? --Backinstadiums (talk) 15:40, 27 June 2020 (UTC)