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Oaklandish Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

"has derived from" or "has been derived from"

Is there a difference in meaning / correctness between the following:

"Our understanding of the illness has derived from the study of symptomatic patients."

"Our understanding of the illness has been derived from the study of symptomatic patients."
  

Top answer

The first is intransitive, the second transitive. If you wish to credit the actor, use the transitive. In my opinion, even the intransitive implies an actor, because of the meaning of the word.

— Avangi

  • The first is intransitive, the second transitive.
  • If you wish to credit the actor, use the transitive.
  • In my opinion, even the intransitive implies an actor, because of the meaning of the word.
  • I see little difference in meanings between your two examples.
  • I can't think of a use of "to derive" which doesn't imply the inputting of intelligence.
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3 Answers
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The first is intransitive, the second transitive. If you wish to credit the actor, use the transitive. In my opinion, even the intransitive implies an actor, because of the meaning of the word. I see little difference in meanings between your two examples.

I can't think of a use of "to derive" which doesn't imply the inputting of intelligence.
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Isn't it the opposite? Isn't "derive" in the first sentence transitive. An object can be added:

"Our understanding of the illness has derived [depth] from the study of symptomatic patients."

Conversely, an object cannot be added in the same way to the second sentence.

Somehow, I think that the second one is closer in meaning to what I would like to say, but I am not su
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I love this! Emotion: happy

The second sentence is in passive voice, which is only possible with a transitive verb. The direct object
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