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Question

Something extremely strange ......................... yesterday while we were out jogging.

	(a) was happened
	(b) happened
	(c) has been happening
	(d) has happened

the answer is B " Happened"

But,I wonder why that is the answer.I think it should be use "was happened" because it is passive...
Anyone could tell me the reason ??
thanx

Yoong Liat · Accepted Answer

Buddhist-AccountantSomething extremely strange .. yesterday while we were out jogging.

Use 'happened' because time (yesterday) is mentioned. Another example: I saw him yesterday.

Tanit · Answer

Buddhist-Accountantthe answer is B " Happened"

But,I wonder why that is the answer.I think it should be use "was happened" because it is passive..

Hi,

Why do you think it should be passive? Only transitive verbs (i.e. those that need to be followed by direct objects, without any preposition) have passive forms, and "happen" is intransitive.

To put it simply (and only as a rough guideline):
Write => transitive verb:
Active: My friend John wrote a letter.
Passive: A letter was written by John.
Laugh => intransitive verb:
Active: Yesterday, I laughed at my friend's joke.
No passive (we cannot say "~~My friend's joke was laughed~~")

Happen => intransitive verb:
Active: Yesterday, something weird happened to me.
No passive (we cannot say "~~I was happened something weird~~")

Does this help?

Buddhist-Accountant · Answer

Could you mention other intransitive verb ????

Tanit · Answer

Buddhist-AccountantCould you mention other intransitive verb ??

Hi,

I can mention a couple of them.

To be: I was here at five. - I am tired. - To be or not to be?
To exist: Do you believe UFOs exist?
To appear: He appeared suddenly.
To die: My grannie died at the age of 92. - John has died.
To rain: It's raining heavily. - It's going to rain.
To lie: She's always lying.
To work: Tom works in a farm.
To talk: They have been talking for two hours.
To go: I usually go to the beach on Sundays.

As you can see, some are "complete" (i.e. they don't require any object), while some need to be followed by an indirect object (i.e. one preceded by a preposition) or by an adjective.
Also, some verbs can be either transitive or intransitive, depending on the meaning and on the context.

To run: Ann is running in the park (intransitive) - Ann ran the marathon in 1989 (transitive) - Ann runs a business in London (transitive)

The best thing you can do is to look verbs up in a dictionary . For each verb, you will find (T) and/or (I), which stand for "transitive" and "intransitive" respectively. I am pretty sure you also can find many useful posts about this topic in the forums (especially in the linguistics section).

Neeraj Jain · Answer

Walk is also an intransitive verb.

Tanit · Answer

Hi,

Neeraj JainWalk is also an intransitive verb.

Not always. Some definitions and examples of "walk" as a transitive verb from http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=88869&dict=CALD:

2 (T) To walk someone to a particular place is to walk with them until they have reached it, usually because you are being friendly or polite, wish to protect them from danger, or to show them the way:
He offered to walk her home/to the station.

3 (T) to take an animal, especially a dog, for a walk:
She walks the dog for an hour every afternoon.

Of course, it is intransitive in sentences like: I usually walk to my office. - I walk every day for two hours.

Neeraj Jain · Answer

I agree with you, Tanit.

Tanit · Answer

On reflection, I think I must amend one thing I wrote earlier. (General statements are always dangerous when speaking about English...sorry

)

Tanit...while some need to be followed by an indirect object (i.e. one preceded by a preposition) ...

Sometimes indirect objects are not preceded by a preposition. This happens, for instance, with verbs like send/give/write:
John gave me the book.
John sent me a parcel.
John wrote her a letter.
It's easy, though, to distinguish the objects if we rewrite these sentences as:
John gave the book to me.
John sent a parcel to me.
John wrote a letter to her.

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