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Usenet Posted 22 years ago
Usage

Intransitive verbs that can be used in passive patterns

Hello.
A few years ago,I learned that intransitive verbs can't be used in passive patterns. But in university, studying English grammar, I learned that there are some exceptions.
Could you answer me what are those " exceptions"? And how these ungrammatical examples can be used?
  

Top answer

[nq:1]Hello. A few years ago,I learned that intransitive verbs can't be used in passive patterns. But in university, studying English grammar, I learned that there are some exceptions.

— Usenet

  • [nq:1]Hello.
  • A few years ago,I learned that intransitive verbs can't be used in passive patterns.
  • But in university, studying English grammar, I learned that there are some exceptions.
  • Could you answer me what are those " exceptions"?
  • [/nq] It is wondered by me, too, how such things could be existed.
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6 Answers
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[nq:1]Hello. A few years ago,I learned that intransitive verbs can't be used in passive patterns. But in university, studying English grammar, I learned that there are some exceptions. Could you answer me what are those " exceptions"? And how these ungrammatical examples can be used?[/nq]
It is wondered by me, too, how such things could be existed. Like you, I was learned that they weren't can
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[nq:2]Hello. A few years ago,I learned that intransitive verbs can't ... " exceptions"? And how these ungrammatical examples can be used?[/nq]
[nq:1]Wait! I've just looked at Swan's Practical English Usage 464, and find an example where I disagree with ... wouldn't be surprised to see 'This proposal was agreed with by everybody', or 'It was agreed to at the meeting'.[/nq]
But if you check
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[nq:2]Wait! I've just looked at Swan's Practical English Usage ... by everybody', or 'It was agreed to at the meeting'.[/nq]
[nq:1]But if you check most dictionaries 'agree to/with/that/on/upon' etc. is considered transitive. Similarly for verb phrases like 'speak to/with' - ... becomes transitive, and hence "He was spoken to" is perfectably acceptable. Apparently this is not possible in many
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[nq:2]But if you check most dictionaries 'agree to/with/that/on/upon' etc. is ... acceptable. Apparently this is not possible in many other languages.[/nq]
[nq:1]Yes, fascinating. Yet another example of the language's plasticity: I'm glad this thread came up.[/nq]
Well of course 'speak' can be a transitive verb - it can take the name of a language as a direct object (I speak English). Inte
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[nq:2]Hello. A few years ago,I learned that intransitive verbs can't ... " exceptions"? And how these ungrammatical examples can be used?[/nq]
[nq:1]It is wondered by me, too, how such things could be existed. Like you, I was learned that they weren't ... acceptable commercialese, though not good literature. So I think there must be more, after all. AUE will tell you! Mike.[/nq]
Thank you.
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[nq:2]Wait! I've just looked at Swan's Practical English Usage ... by everybody', or 'It was agreed to at the meeting'.[/nq]
[nq:1]But if you check most dictionaries 'agree to/with/that/on/upon' etc. is considered transitive. Similarly for verb phrases like 'speak to/with' - ... transitive, and hence "He was spoken to" is perfectably acceptable. Apparently this is not possible in many other la
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