Hi Mr Paul,

Please consider the following three sentences, and recommend me the best one.

1- You are only subjected to follow my instructions.
2- You are only subject to follow my instructions.
3- You are only subjects to follow my instructions.

Of note, the intended meaning is quite obvious; someone needs to say that his juniors should only follow his instructions.

That is a very strange and unnatural use of the verb "subject". Do you perhaps mean "expected"?


Paulm

Yes, Mr Paul, the sentence should exactly convey the meaning of expected; so I could easily use the verb "expected", could I?

1- You are only expected to follow my instructions only. (okay)
2- You are only expect to follow my instructions only. (wrong)
3- You are only expects to follow my instructions only. (wrong)

I've re-stated your examples using the verb "expect" instead of "subject".

Only 1- is correct. The presence in your examples of the verb "are" followed by another verb is an indication that the sentence is in the 'passive voice'. Passives usually have the verb "be" followed by a past participle. That means the correct verb must be the past participle "expected".

Also, it would be better to put the focusing adverb "only" at the end of the sentence to emphasise the fact that it is "my instructions", and no one else's, that must be followed. (You could also put "only" after the word "follow" if you preferred; the effect would be the same).


PaulM