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I've got this message from a quite respectful software library:

A value is trying to be set on a copy of a slice from a DataFrame.

Shouldn't it be something in passive voice, like "The value is being tried to be set.."?

KillingTime
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user656449
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  • Why do you think it should be passive voice? – KillingTime Jul 03 '23 at 08:26
  • well, to my russian ears "value is trying" sounds like it's value itself is undertaking something to be set – user656449 Jul 03 '23 at 08:27
  • You are right, "value" is not the author of the try. Another formulation could be "There was an attempt to set a value on ..." – Graffito Jul 03 '23 at 09:07
  • Does this answer your question? Passive of "tried to eat" // You can't passivise directly. 'An attempt is being made to set a value on a copy of a slice from a DataFrame' is a valid (grammatical and synonymous) passive sentence. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 03 '23 at 11:53
  • I guess it does, although I'm not much into grammar and actually meant to ask if the text sounds weird for native english speaker too – user656449 Jul 03 '23 at 12:10
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    A morsel of food cannot try to be eaten. I don't know any native speaker who uses such a construction. You can say this: "A pile of bricks was waiting to be laid" but not "A pile of bricks was trying to be laid" — not if you want to make sense, that is. – TimR Jul 03 '23 at 13:30
  • The "respectability" of a software library doesn't mean that its help messages were authored (or edited) by a fluent native speaker. – TimR Jul 03 '23 at 13:33
  • ok, thank you! :) – user656449 Jul 03 '23 at 13:47

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