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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

transitive or intransitive

0Hi,02br
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00The word 'vanished' is known to me as intransitive which means it takes no object. Then, a look at a dictionary seems to tell otherwise: it seemed to be noted as transitive with the meaning "to cause to disappear".02br
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00Then, I saw a sentence that seemed to have this part:02br
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00... is vanished02br
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00Then, it got me thinking how that could be: a intransitive isn't supposed to have a passive. Is the transitive definition at play here? How would you know? 0-
  

Top answer

0it's both, get a better dictionary, such as this one ($30/year): 02br 00-----02br 01i 00transitive verb02i 00 01b 00:02b 00 to cause to disappear <you can 01i 00vanish02i 00 the coin completely -- Jean Hugard>02br 05002br 02br 00------ 0240

— Marius Hancu

  • 0it's both, get a better dictionary, such as this one ($30/year): 02br 00-----02br 01i 00transitive verb02i 00 01b 00:02b 00 to cause to disappear <you can 01i 00vanish02i 00 the coin completely -- Jean Hugard>02br 05002br 02br 00------ 0240
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15 Answers
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0it's both, get a better dictionary, such as this one ($30/year): 02br
00-----02br
01i00transitive verb02i00 01b00:02b00 to cause to disappear <you can 01i00vanish02i00 the coin completely -- Jean Hugard>02br
05002br
02br
00------ 0240
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0To me (British English), "vanish" as a transitive verb is borderline, and is appropriate in only in very casual or jokey usage. I'm not sure how accepted it is in AmE.02br
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00Therefore, to me, "is vanished" looks like a mistake for "has vanished". If I was certain it wasn't a mistake then I would understand it as a passive form of transitive "vanish", which might, depend
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0Hmm. I see that the transitive meaning is listed in Chambers (a well respected British dictionary), with no qualifications. So obviously some British English speakers think it's unexceptionable... just not this one!02br
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00I'd be interested to hear what others have to say.0-
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0Without wanting to get into a "it's in the dictionary so it must be used" discussion, I just want to add that the transitive sense is very unfamiliar to me. It makes me think of a mother feeding her child: "Look, you made it all gone!"0-
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0>Therefore, to me, "is vanished" looks like a mistake for "has vanished".02br
00Right, or dialect? 0-
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0Actually, I thought of one place where I wouldn't be surprised to encounter "is vanished": in attempted recreations of archaic dialogue.02br
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00Scene: mediaeval castle02br
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00Knight to servant: Forsooth! Fetch me my drinking goblet, thou varmint!02br
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00(Servant returns empty-handed)02br
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00Servant:
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0Mr. Wordy-02br
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00Thou art on the mark.02br
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00From German, we would have taken "Es ist verschwunden." to make thine ancient applicable example.02br
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00I'm also unfamiliar with the transitive usage, and would interpret it "it is vanished" as a mistake or an invented adjective rather than a passive verb.0-
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0Although it’s rare to see intransitive usage with “vanished” as it’s deemed ungrammatical, it certainly is interesting to see 45,000 entries of such use. Granted, some of these entries might not be even be considered suitable as references. Thinking out loud, I see the usage 00“the rainbow was vanished behind the clouds…”00 00is acceptable as “vanished” is being used as a past parti
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0Hi,02br
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00Let met ask a question.02br
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00Here, "is vanished", are we taking it as an intransitive?02br
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01u00If yes, then, are all intransitives be able to form present perfect sentences?02u02br
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00"has vanished??" 0-
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0 01u01b00If yes, then, are all intransitives be able to form present perfect sentences?02br
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02b02u00I would not00 be making such generalization. I am not a qualified grammarian so I can't comment on your inquiry. But I would say this. As far as my "rainbow" reference is concerned, I feel the usage may be viewed as unconventional and
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