The window was seen broken.

[nekocat]

"The window was seen broken." Which does this sentence mean?

1. The window had been broken. Someone saw it that way.
2. The window was being broken. Someone saw it that way.

 

[Geostigma]

Number 1 would be the best answer in my opinion. "The window was seen broken" tells me that it was already broken and someone came by to see it that way. If you wanted to say something like number 2, you could just say "The window was seen being broken.", implying that it was in the process of being broken.

 

[Sarapva]

I agree that it means someone saw it after it was broken. This sounds like the way something might be said in a courtroom, though. A more natural way to say it might be "He/she saw that the window had been broken" or "He saw the broken window" or "He saw the window after it had been broken". Saying "The window was seen" is a passive phrase, while "He saw the window" is more active.

 

[EmperorHirohito]

Number 1 as the emphasis is on the word 'seen', in other words it was something that had happened at some point in the past, rather than in the second sentence which is in the present and that someone is seeing the widow being broken as they watch.

 

[Nall-ohki]

Number 1 is correct.

For number 2, you might say something like:

The window was seen being broken.
The window was seen while being broken.

Both of these are a bit unnatural, however.

 

[JimmySeal]

I think it could be 1 or 2 depending on the situation, but in either case the original sentence is an awkward use of passive voice.

 

[Buntaro]

"The window was seen broken." is awkward and unnatural. I would say, "I could see the window was broken."

 

[pugtm]

they were seeing it in the state of being broken.
to be #2 you would have to write " the window was seen being broken"

 

[Geostigma]

"The window was seen broken." is usually used when narrating a story or describing anothers actions. Sounds like something you would hear on the news or a police report and shouldn't be used in the first person.

 

[nekocat]

Thanks a lot, everybody!