being operated upon

USAGE SUMMARY

"being operated upon" is a grammatically correct phrase and can be used in written English.
It is often used to describe the state of being under a medical procedure or surgery. Example: The patient was being operated upon for over six hours, but the surgery was successful.

✓ Grammatically correct

Science

News & Media

Academia

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

5 human-written examples

Health-wise I am between knee replacements: waiting for my right knee (which has been done) to get strong enough to support my left knee which is being operated upon tomorrow.

The Guardian

Currently the code prohibits operation of a "radio system intended to make sound audible outside the vehicle when the vehicle is being operated upon a highway," wording that some local authorities say is too vague to clearly apply to boom systems.

Los Angeles Times

A similar bias, but in the opposite direction, may apply to surgery that is, with very ill patients selectively not being operated upon.

BMJ Open

Typically the virtual processors are organized according to the data structure being operated upon because a unique identifier number is assigned to each thread that can be used to determine a unique index number into the data structure.

BMC Systems Biology

Surgeons are therefore continually seeking ways to minimise IRI, particularly as more high-risk patients are being operated upon and it is becoming increasingly clear that even mild to moderate elevations in CK-MB and troponin are associated with increased intermediate and long-term mortality.

Basic Research in Cardiology

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

55 human-written examples

In the beginning of this text, we distinguished between functions and data: functions performed operations and data were operated upon.

University of California, Berkeley

Sixty-nine were operated upon by some form of open operation.

Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research

Last year 513 patients were operated upon free of charge and 320 operations were performed on private patients.

BMC International Health and Human Rights

Patients are referred here from all regions of the country and from different ethnic backgrounds and they are operated upon in the same hospital, so all the operation and pathology reports were available simultaneously.

BMC Gastroenterology

If therefore only such kinds of growths were operated upon, the prognosis was of course promising and the operation was considered as a successful one against "cancer".

Annals of Surgical Oncology

Like function arguments in C, the order in which the array elements are operated upon is not defined, so a J compiler could parallelize array operations.

Stanford University

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When using "being operated upon", ensure the context clearly indicates who is performing the operation, even if it's implied. This helps avoid ambiguity.

Common error

Avoid overusing passive constructions like "being operated upon" in contexts where active voice would be more direct and engaging. Sometimes, stating who performed the operation enhances clarity.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "being operated upon" functions as a passive verb phrase, indicating that someone is the recipient of a surgical procedure. Ludwig examples show its usage across medical, news, and personal contexts.

Expression frequency: Common

Frequent in

Science

60%

News & Media

30%

Academia

10%

Less common in

Formal & Business

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Wiki

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, "being operated upon" is a grammatically correct passive verb phrase used to describe someone undergoing a surgical procedure. Ludwig AI confirms its validity and illustrates its use across diverse sources like scientific journals, news articles, and academic texts. While correct, it's wise to consider active voice alternatives in certain contexts to improve clarity and engagement. The choice between "being operated upon" and options such as "undergoing surgery" often depends on the desired emphasis and the specific nuances one wishes to convey.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

undergoing surgery

Focuses on the process of surgery itself, removing the passive voice.

having an operation performed

Rephrases the sentence to emphasize the performance of the operation.

subjected to an operation

Emphasizes the action being performed by someone else, highlighting the patient's role.

receiving surgical treatment

Highlights the medical aspect of the procedure, focusing on treatment.

being treated surgically

Focuses on the surgical treatment aspect of the process.

experiencing a surgical procedure

Highlights the patient's experience of the surgery.

going under the knife

An informal expression indicating surgery.

on the operating table

Focuses on the location and immediate status of the patient.

being cut open

Describes the initial action in surgery in a very direct, and often alarming, way.

undergoing a procedure

Generalizes to any type of medical procedure, not specifically surgery.

FAQs

How can I rephrase "being operated upon" to sound more active?

Instead of "being operated upon", you could say "undergoing surgery" or "receiving surgical treatment". These alternatives focus more on the action and the patient's experience, and less on the passive construction.

Is it always necessary to specify who is "being operated upon"?

While it's not always grammatically necessary, specifying who is "being operated upon" enhances clarity, especially in contexts where the subject might be ambiguous.

What is a more informal way to say someone is "being operated upon"?

A more informal way to express that someone is "being operated upon" is to say they are "going under the knife". However, this phrase is generally avoided in formal or professional contexts.

What's the difference between "being operated upon" and "undergoing surgery"?

"Being operated upon" is a passive construction, while "undergoing surgery" is more active. "Undergoing surgery" emphasizes the patient's action of receiving the surgery, whereas "being operated upon" focuses on the operation itself.