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Cardamom Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
passive or active?
In the sentence, "Ruins were all that remained of the civilization", remained is a participle adjective isn't it? My student argues that it is a stative passive that describes part-whole relationships (such as France is divided into many regions). So is this passive or active?
Top answer
Remained here is not a participle or an adjective, nor is it active or passive. It is the past tense of remain .
- Remained here is not a participle or an adjective, nor is it active or passive.
- It is the past tense of remain .
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3 Answers
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Remained here is not a participle or an adjective, nor is it active or passive. It is the past tense of remain.
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Hi Cardamon;
Welcome to English Forums!
"Remain" is an intransitive verb. It does not take an object, so it is never passive.
"Divide" is a transitive verb. It can take an object (We divided the pizza among us.) So it can be passive.
Your sentence has two clauses. The main clause subject is "ruins" and the verb "were".
The dependent clause is "that remained of the c
Welcome to English Forums!
"Remain" is an intransitive verb. It does not take an object, so it is never passive.
"Divide" is a transitive verb. It can take an object (We divided the pizza among us.) So it can be passive.
Your sentence has two clauses. The main clause subject is "ruins" and the verb "were".
The dependent clause is "that remained of the c
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