Explain this type of sentence: I was asked to call you.

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hello,

How could you explain this type of sentence?

I was asked to call you…
Thanks

2

Someone/you asked me to call you. (obligation/necessity)

3

Thanks Molly…

Big help for me

Sonnete

4

.
I agree that ‘I was asked to call you’ might be reworded as ‘Someone asked me to call you’.
However, ‘You asked me to call you’ is an unlikely rewording for ‘I was asked to call you’.
.

5

How unlikely?

6

Hi Molly
Why don’t you explain why you think that particular rewording is likely.
.

7

Why me? You’re the one who questioned it.

8

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You’re the one who presented it as a rewording. Are you saying that you had no particular reason for doing so?
.

9

Try euphemism, for starters, Amy.

So, why do you find it unlikely?

10

Where does this fit in, by the way?

Do you mean that the first rewording indicates “obligation”, and the second “necessity”?

All the best, old chap,

MrP

11

Hi guys

“Someone asked me to call you” does not equate with “You asked me to call you” unless the speaker wants to say that you are just anybody no one special. This would not be the correct interpretation, and possibly deliberate irony or a put down.

“I was asked to call you” would not explicitly say where the request was coming from but would exclude “you”.

Why would you replace one pronoun “I” with another “you” in relation to meaning?

Unless very specific or contextual I can not see how informing a learner that “I” means “you” is useful or beneficial.
Would someone ; ) care to elaborate how this helps, and does not hinder learning the meaning?

12

I was asked to call you… . (Obligation/Necessity.)

13

Hi

You stated;

as a explanation for

This clearly replaces “I” with “you” in your explanation,why?

14

But how does “obligation” and “necessity” fit in here?

(I don’t quite understand what you mean.)

MrP

15

Hi Mr Pedantic

I was asked to call you is in essence a request from someone else. It could be an obligation or necessity by context or tone. However to say it is intrinsically is quite unusual.

  1. Could you call my wife for me?
  2. I would appreciate if you did a follow up call concerning the last meeting?
  3. Please, call the area manager tomorrow?

The last could be an order and therefore you feel obliged or necessitated to do this. However it is not the only standard usage.

cheers stew.t.

16

Not sure who said it does.

17

Did someone do that?

18

How likely do you think it is that someone will use “I was asked to call you” as a euphemism for “You asked me to call you”? Have you checked the corpora for frequency of use?
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19

Molly

Explanation of “I was asked to call you”.

Your explanation was not useful or beneficial, or even accurate. A version maybe but as I said needs a context. Leaving a very short explanation when it is a version does as much harm as good.

And Amy elucidates to this in her response. Your explanation came across as a definition thats all. And as it was so stated requires some support of instances of usage for obligation and necessity.

cheers stew.t.

20

We can differ on whether obligation is sometimes involved, but I can’t understand the denial of Necessity with this form.