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"Insurmountable" means "too great to be overcome"?

LearningWithInternet
According to the Oxford dictionary, "insurmountable" means "too great to be overcome". I don't know why it isn't "too great to overcome". Because when describing a book, I can just say "this book is easy to understand.", instead of "this book is easy to be understood." The Oxford dictionary uses the passive voice here is absurd to me. By the same token, shouldn't it be "too great to overcome"? Well, my question is, is there a general rule to this? Or I just got confused, this question actually shouldn't exist?

5 comments

zebostoneleigh•
Both work: "too great to be overcome" "too great to overcome"
cardinarium•
It could be both. This is a quirk of the way the infinitive works in English, since the implied subject of the infinitive could either be the book (to be overcome) or the person trying to read the book (to overcome). > This sandwich is too big to be eaten. ✅ > This sandwich is too big to eat. ✅
devlincaster•
They emphasize the insurmountable thing in different ways. ‘Too great to be overcome’ = that *thing* was insurnountable, maybe by anything ‘Too great to overcome’ = that thing was insurmountable *for me* By saying ‘be’ you make it generally true instead of just true from your point of view. The dictionary uses the more general sense.
EagleCatchingFish•
"To great to be overcome" means the exact same thing as "too great to overcome." I would probably always say "too great to overcome". I was going to say "be overcome" might be a British preference, since it's in the Oxford dictionary, but the Cambridge dictionary examples just use "overcome", so it might be the personal preference of whomever wrote that entry. Either is grammatically correct. You can use passive or active. In my college writing class, I was taught that it's best to use active voice whenever possible. In academic articles, you hear a lot of passive voice. My very general recommendation would be that unless you have a specific reason to use passive voice, your writing will probably be better with active voice. If you *do* have a specific reason to use passive voice, then have at it. Style is very subjective.
Krapmeister•
This book is easily understood.