'change' vs. 'exchange'

Question

Which of the following sentences is grammatically correct?1. Our meeting was officially over when a business card changed hands.2. Our meeting was officially over when a business card exchanged hands.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

1. Our meeting was officially over when a business card changed hands.
2. Our meeting was officially over when a business card exchanged hands.

I don't know if it's a grammar issue. I think "changed" and "exchanged" are both misused.

I take "to exchange" as a transitive verb.

We would typically say "Our meeting was officially over when we exchanged business cards."
(We are the actors.)

Both examples describe the movement of only one card.
In the first, the card may have "moved" from the left hand to the right hand, or from the hand of one person to the hand of another.
At least the sentence is grammatical, where the second one is probably not.

You might say a card is capable of changing intransitively - fading, perhaps.

But I don't think a card is capable of performing the transitive act of exchanging one thing for another. Maybe I'm missing something.

Maybe two things can perform certain intransitive acts, but only together.
She and I exchanged places. I think this is intransitive, but I may be wrong.

You can say, "I changed/exchanged places with her." I don't know if "places" is the direct object.

'change' vs. 'exchange'

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions