Using passive voice

Passive voice with attitude verbs

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Using prepositions other than by

A characteristic of the passive voice with please type verbs is that the stimulus is often introduced by prepositions other then by:

I've always been very interested in fast cars, in sports cars. (Bank of English)

Mrs Chow said she was surprised at his comments. (SCMP 15/9/92)

We are absolutely disgusted with his behaviour. (Microconcord Corpus A)

This is related to the fact that there is a fuzzy borderline between such passive clauses with attitude verbs and clauses with -ed/en adjectives preceded by the linking verb be, and many clauses can in fact be interpreted either way. In particular, the form interested in is often treated by teachers as an adjective followed by a preposition. However, note that it would be possible to substitute by for in, at and with in the examples above. For further information about this, see Using passive voice: Passive voice or be + adjective.

Introduction
Types of attitude verbs
Using prepositions other than by