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During that time children were sold to sweep the chimney.

Here, the two works-- 1. selling, 2. sweeping are being done by two different people / group of people.

The pencil is used to write something.

Here in the second example, both of the works-- 1. using, 2. writing are being done by the same person.

I'm confused about the first sentence and I heard the it from someone. Is the sentence valid?

Thanks in advance.

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The first sentence is not entirely clear. If you're going to say sweep the chimney, it would be best to be referring to a particular chimney, the main chimney at Buckingham Palace for example.

If the children were sold to be used as chimney sweeps all across London, it would be more accurate to say, Children were sold to sweep chimneys. Chimneys being a generic reference to some or all of the chimneys in London.

You could also make your reference more generic by saying, sweep the chimneys. It's the plural chimneys that suggests a generic collection.

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  • Right. +1 for the plural/singular issue, which is the most obvious grammar point that needed pointing out.
    – Lambie
    Commented Apr 3 at 15:45
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Yes, your sentence is common, valid and clear, though occasionally that construction could be ambiguous. Where it is unclear, the sentence should be rewritten. Here are some similar examples.

  • "I bought a radio to play music." [I'm not making music, the radio is.]
  • "She sold brooms to sweep leaves." [She is not sweeping the leaves.]

BUT

  • "She sold brooms to buy a car." [Clearly, she wants to buy a car.]
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