She placed second in the competition.

[cannonkuo]

Jessica Spencer, a senior strategic communication major, placed second in the 2019 national poster competition for HazingPrevention.org and its annual anti-hazing week program for the 2019-2020 academic year.
(https://schieffercollege.tcu.edu/stratcomm/news/student-places-second-in-national-poster-contest/)

In the sentence, Spencer placed second in ...competition...
Any meaning change if I use "Spencer was placed second in...competition"?

 

[Barque]

Yes. The original means she was second. Your suggested rewrite means someone decided she was second.

In effect, they're the same. But there's a nuance.

 

[emsr2d2]

Jessica Spencer, a senior strategic communication major, placed second in the 2019 national poster competition for HazingPrevention.org and its annual anti-hazing week program for the 2019-2020 academic year.
(https://schieffercollege.tcu.edu/stratcomm/news/student-places-second-in-national-poster-contest/)

In the sentence, "Spencer placed second in ... competition ...", would the Any meaning change if I used "Spencer was placed second in ... competition"?

Note my changes above. Remember that an ellipsis is a space followed by three dots and then another space.

 

[Barque]

Thanks for that. I thought three dots were enough. Didn't know about the before and after space requirement.

 

[Tarheel]

Spencer placed second in the competition.

Unremarkable.

Spencer was placed second in the competition.

Apparently, somebody put her in second place. How could that happen?

 

[cannonkuo]

Spencer placed second in the competition.

Unremarkable.

Spencer was placed second in the competition.

Apparently, somebody put her in second place. How could that happen?

May I know why it could not happen? I believe there were some judges in the competition to decide who could be placed first, second, or third.
Aren't there any judges in any kind of competition? I still don't understand the nuance or difference between the two sentences.

 

[Barque]

Spencer placed second. = He was second.
Spencer was placed second. = This could sometimes mean the speaker believes he wasn't second, but a judge wrongly decided he was second. It needn't mean that of course but it could.

In subjective competitions, like the poster-making competition you referred to, you need a judge to decide who's first and who's second. So you could use "was placed second" in your context.

But in more objective competitions, like a sporting one, where the result doesn't depend solely on the judge's opinion, "was placed second" might mean the judge was unfair or made a mistake.

 

[Rover_KE]

Spencer placed second in the competition.

This is mainly North American English usage.

Most BE speakers would say Spencer came second in the competition.

 

[Tarheel]

This is mainly North American English usage.

Most BE speakers would say Spencer came second in the competition.

That's used too. Also: finished first, second, or third.

 

[jutfrank]

1. Spencer placed second
2. Spencer was placed second

The main semantic difference is that 1. has an active voice (where placed is intransitive) and 2. has a passive voice (where placed is transitive). That means that there is an implied agent in sentence 2., which could be expressed with a following by-phrase. Sentence 1 has no such implied agent.

Another way to say that in semantics terminology is that in 1., Spencer is the 'theme' whereas in 2., Spencer is the 'patient'.

Practically, there is no need to imply an agent, so sentence 1 is fine as it is. The intransitive verb phrase is: to place second. Alternatives are to come second and to finish second.