IanStewart wrote:
I don't think I quite follow how you're interpreting this phrase. It's a passive construction, not an active one, so the sentence is not saying that fees are being given permission to do something. If, when there's noisy construction going on outside, a high school teacher says to a class "I can't allow the math test to be taken in these conditions", the teacher isn't denying the test permission to do something. The construction is passive; it means "I can't allow the math test to be taken (by the class) in these conditions", or rephrasing it in an active way "I can't allow the class to take the math test in these conditions".
Similarly, in the original sentence, when it says, paraphrasing, "The Labor Department began to allow fees to be based on performance" it means "The Labor Department began to allow fees to be based (by the employer paying the fees) on performance", or phrased actively, "The Labor Department began to allow employers to pay fees based on performance".
Hi
IanStewart -
gave the following analogy of
active vs passive as a similar construction to the oiginal problem (which was very helpfull)
Active : I can't allow the class
to take the math test in these conditionsPassive : I can't allow the math test
to be taken (by the class) in these conditionsI actually thought the
passive voice in this analogy and the
passive voice in the original - BOTH CASES DO NOT WORK because literally speaking – the sentence in the passive voice is implying you cant
allow the math test to do something
Almost as if the math test itself is hoping to perform an action. Then the math test asked for your permission. You denied the math test permission