Enjoy!

In questa frase: “My nieces enjoyed being taken to the circus.” Perché viene usato being + past participle? Non capisco questa costruzione del passivo. Il passato passivo in inglese si forma in questa maniera: Soggetto+was/were+past participle. Grazie anticipatamente. Alberto

This is because when you use “enjoy” you have to add the “ing form”: “I enjoy playing tennis, yesterday I enjoyed playing tennis.” It’s the same with the passive but, seeing as we are using “enjoyed” we have to add the “ing” form of the verb to be and so “Yesterday I enjoyed taking my nieces to the circus” becomes “Yesterday my nieces enjoyed being taken to the circus.” Another example: “Mary told Frank he was an idiot. Frank was told by Mary that he saw an idiot. Martha enjoyed telling Frank that he was an idiot, but Frank didn’t enjoy being told (by Mary) that he was an idiot.”