considered as - considered to be

Look, up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a ‘plane? No, it’s... The Bad Article! Welcome back everybody, the time has come for us to take to the polished floor of the linguistic dancehall in our waxed grammar skating shoes once again.

First of all I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who has ‘Liked’ us on Facebook or otherwise said hello over the last few weeks. Interest in the Article seems to have actually gone up whilst I’ve been away, something I wouldn’t have imagined possible. At any rate, it might have given most of you a chance to catch up on some previous posts and prepare yourselves for the onslaught of dangerous, dodgy, dotty articles ahead of us.

So speaking of which, and without much further ado about nothing, let’s get started. I present to you today, ladies and gentlemen, a strange case to consider. Let’s consult Mr. POD:

consider  (v)
1. Contemplate mentally, esp. in order to reach a conclusion.
2. Examine the merits of.
3. Formed after careful thought (a considered opinion).
4. (followed by ⁽¹⁾ that or ⁽²⁾ to be) ⁽¹⁾ have the opinion that, ⁽²⁾ be regarded as.
5. (in phrases) ‘All things considered, the day went pretty well.’ (meaning here ‘taking everything into account’).

 

Now then, what’s the problem? As far as our Polish>English translations are concerned, and in terms of good usage generally, we’re looking at number 4 above, which indicates opinion. In such expressions, we often see considered as instead of the correct considered that or considered to be. Like so:

blee!
1a. Nowy Targ is often considered as the jewel in the Tatran crown.
2a. Reich is often considered as the father of modern classical music.
3a. Many of these were considered as detrimental to the overall goals of the Union.
4a. After many months of debate, the Ukraine was considered as ideal.
5a. We didn’t try the salad, because their water is considered as less than sanitary.

 yay!

1b. Nowy Targ is often considered to be the jewel in the Tatran crown.
2b. Reich is often considered to be the father of modern classical music.
3b. Many of these were considered to be detrimental to the overall goals of the Union.
4b. After many months of debate, it was considered that the Ukraine would be ideal.
5b. We didn’t try the salad, because it is considered that their water is less than sanitary.

I should point out here that examples 1 – 3 are by far the more common; I mean specifically that the structure of ‘X is considered as Y’ is most common. Anyway, the fixes. Note how in 1 – 3 we need simply replace as with to be. A nice, simple, fix. If you’ve got yourself into a 4 or 5, then a tiny bit of rephrasing is required. This is because in 4b and 5b, apart form the tense change, we’re technically using passive voice, as opposed to the active voice of 1b – 3b.

I would urge you not to think about all that too much anyway (I try not to), and although there are some tiny tiny exceptions where considered as is kosher (legal, of course), just remember considered to be instead of considered as, and that’ll be 99% of the danger averted. Hurrah!

One last thing before you escape. There does exist a lot of passion about use of passive voice; some people would rather abolish it forever, and some say live and let live. Even thinking about the subject of active and passive voice gives me a gigantic migraine, and anyway I’m pretty sure it’s one of those things no real English native speakers understand anyway. Or maybe we just invented it to confuse foreigners, which was a totally stupid idea because only they understand it. So there you go, proof positive that the only factor influencing your skill, intelligence and aptitude is yourself. Bravo you! If you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to making my own dowód osobista with coloured paper and big crayons...

Many thanks to Professor Dotty for explaining the difficult bits to me. Doh!