The verb DECIDE:
In sentence (1) the lexical verb, the main verb, is : decide. The verb decide usually takes a finite clause. This means that the complement of the verb is in the form of a full sentence:
- She decided that [ Bob should sell the car ]
- She decided that [ Bob will sell the car ]
- She decided that [ Bob is selling the car ]
- She decided that [ Bob had sold the car ]
Notice that all of the complements in brackets [ ... ] look like complete sentences. This means they are FINITE clauses. They all have a modal verb or another verb with tense. In a normal sentence with decide we need a finite clause like this.
There is another type of complement that we can use with decide, a non-finite complement. We can use a complement with an infinitive. Here are some examples:
- The doctors decided [ for him to be treated with laser surgery ]
- Congress decided [ for him to ratify the treaty ]
- The Court of Appeal decided [ for him to be returned to his
biological family ]
Notice that this type of complement doesn't have a tensed verb. The bit in brackets cannot be a sentence on its own. It doesn't matter if we keep for or not:
- *For him to be treated with laser surgery. (ungrammatical)
- *Him to be treated with laser surgery. (ungrammatical)
Usually this type of sentence is very rare. We do not use this construction very much. We prefer the complement of decide to be a finite clause with a tensed verb. Sentences like the first examples are much more common.
However, there is one exception to this. If the subject of decide is the same as the subject of the complement (the bit in brackets), then we prefer to use the infinitive construction. BUT We do not usually say the sentence like this:
- Bob decided [ for Bob to sell the car ].
With infinitive complements like this, we do not repeat the subject for the infinitive. We do not use for either. We just say:
- Bob decided [ ______ to sell the car ].
In fact, this is the most common type of sentence that we make with the verb decide, but only if the subject of decide is being used as the subject of the infinitive. If we don't use the same subject, we prefer to use a finite clause.
If we do use the subject twice in the other type of sentence with a finite clause, that is fine as well:
- Bob decided that [ he should sell the car ].
Notice however, that we must say what the subject of the finite clause is. If we leave it out it is ungrammatical:
- Bob decided that [ should sell the car ]. (ungrammatical)
The Original Poster's Questions
- He decided to sell the car.
Here the sentence uses an infinitive complement. This is because it means:
- He decided [ for himself to sell the car].
Because we understand that the subject of decide is the subject of to sell we can use the infinitive construction. But if we make the complement passive we get this:
- He decided [ for the car to be sold by himself ].
Now the subject of decide is 'he' but the subject of to sell is 'the car'. Because the subjects are different we must say who the subject is. But we don't like the very unusual infinitive complement, unless we can leave the subject out. It is much more normal to use a finite complement:
- He decided that [the car should be sold].
- My teacher gave me a journal to read.
The Original Poster is correct here. They can use either the direct object a journal or the indirect object me as the subject of a passivised sentence:
- I was given a journal to read.
- A journal was given (to) me to read.
Hope this is helpful!
Sentence #1
I remember being taken to the zoo.
This is correct and sounds very normal to native ears. Being taken to the zoo functions as a noun phrase denoting the act in which you were taken to the zoo. Being is a gerund here. The passive construction here omits the subject; the implied subject is me (which a person would only say in order to create unusually strong emphasis).
It might help to look at some comparable sentences where the subject of being taken is explicit:
I remember John being taken to the zoo.
I remember him being taken to the zoo.
Notice that the subject of being taken is in the objective case. That's because it's also the object of remember, the main verb of the sentence.
Sorry, I have to tell you this
There's also an older school of thought that says the previous two sentences are incorrect and should instead be:
I remember John's being taken to the zoo.
I remember his being taken to the zoo.
In this parsing, the object of remember is being taken to the zoo. The subject of the gerund in this construction takes the possessive case (strangely enough).
Most fluent speakers today hear both him being taken and his being taken as correct. That is, people can parse both forms. The first form works by analogy with I helped him learn and the second form works by analogy with I helped his education.
Sentence #2
They are remembered taking me to the zoo.
This is actually correct, just a little unusual. Here, taking is a present participle, not a gerund. Taking me to the zoo modifies they, in the manner of a subject-complement. A comparable sentence might make this clearer:
Football players are usually drawn running with the ball.
In other words, in most pictures of football players, the football player is running with the ball.
The reason your example sentence is unusual isn't because of the grammar, it's because it's a little hard to imagine a situation where people would be remembered that way. But it's certainly possible and the sentence can be understood. Perhaps someone took a photograph of "them" while they were taking you to the zoo, they died long ago, and since then, many people have seen this photograph.
Best Answer
1
I think the reason the book gives the answer stated in #1 is the subject of your question: passive construction of infinitive verbs. (I can't be sure because I don't have your book in front of me.) There are two verbs in the original sentence: "expects" and "to help." If the book asks you to convert the infinitive to the passive, then you need to change "to help" to "to be helped (by X)".
Note 1: "It is expected" is the proper way to make the passive form of "expect", but for whatever reason "It is expected by him" is rarely used. If you do use it, sounds better to my American ears to say "It is expected by him to be helped by me." However, the book answer is more natural at least in my northwestern American dialect.
Note 2: "It is expected that" is also very rarely used, and usually only in reference to a future event. If you do use a that-clause in this case you need to drop the "should" because it actually becomes a subjunctive construction: "It is expected by him that I help him." However, this should probably be avoided because this construction is so rarely seen.
2
"It is time for X" is simply the common idiom when the passive voice is used. Again, if you use that you need to drop the "should" and write "It is time that action be taken." However, it's far more common to see "it is time that" with a subject directly after, such as in "It is time that we take action." This wouldn't answer the book question correctly, though, since it asks for a passive construction.