Transitive vs. intransitive

Question

The below sentence I'm asking about is from NPR news.

As you can see, 'pass' is used as 'intransitive' verb with the subject 'bill.'

So I checked "Oxford dictionary of advanced leaners."
It says in this particular meaning, 'pass' is 'transitive.'

Can you tell me what do you think about this?

The stimulus bill that passed was a thousand pages long. But we right here, Alex, are going to reduce it to a very, very short radio drama.

?test
14[vn] to accept a proposal, law, etc. by voting:

? The bill was passed by 360 votes to 280.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Stenka25The stimulus bill that passed was a thousand pages long.

It is the past participle of pass, not its past form. The voice is passive, so the subject "bill" is actually the direct object of the verb.

Sometimes the helping verb is omitted in this kind of adjectival clause (reflecting the use of the past participle as an adjective.) The subject of pass is not specifically stated in this sentence. This is common in passive voice. The subject (deduced from context) is Congress.

The stimulus bill that (was) passed (by Congress) was a thousand pages long.
The stimulus bill passed by Congress was a thousand pages long.

BillJ · Answer

AlpheccaStars
Stenka25The stimulus bill that passed was a thousand pages long.

AlpheccaStarsThe voice is passive, so the subject "bill" is actually the direct object of the verb.

If the passive interpretation is correct, it would be better to say "so the subject 'bill' is actually the direct object of the verb in the active equivalent". That would avoid giving the impression that passive clauses have direct objects.

AlpheccaStarsIt is the past participle of pass, not its past form. The voice is passive...

This sort of relative clause is ambiguous; it could, as you say, be interpreted as passive: 'The stimulus bill that (was) passed', but an equally plausible alternative interpretation might be "The stimulus bill that (Congress) passed was a thousand pages long", where the relative clause is active, not passive, and 'stimulus bill' is the direct object of the past tense verb 'passed' (so the relative clause is interpreted as 'Congress passed the stimulus bill').

BillJ

Stenka25 · Answer

Thanks for your answering my thread.
I got quite different opinion in another website from "e2efour".

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?p=9417473&posted=1#post9417473

Passed (intransitive verb) can mean to pass through the house (legislative body) or to be approved.
I wouldn't myself write passed without a preposition.

What do you think of that?

Mr Wordy · Answer

My opinion, for what it's worth, is that "passed" here is an intransitive verb in active mood, the subject effectively being "stimulus bill". I can't get my head round how it could be interpreted as a passive construction.

CalifJim · Answer

Stenka25I checked "Oxford dictionary of advanced leaners."
It says in this particular meaning, 'pass' is 'transitive.'

Can you tell me what do you think about this?

I would love to tell you what I think. The idea that 'pass' is transitive here is absolutely daft.

There are 12 (count 'em) definitions of 'pass' (intransitive) at www.m-w.com. See in particular the one numbered 9.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pass

CJ

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Mr WordyI can't get my head round how it could be interpreted as a passive construction.

Congress voted, and the number in favor was more than the number against. Congress passed the bill. (Passive: e.g. The bill was passed by a vote of 217 to 210)

AlpheccaStars · Answer

CalifJimThe idea that 'pass' is transitive here is absolutely daft.

But CJ, read a bit further on your own source; definition #4 under "intransitive"

I prefer the intransitive; A parade can pass by on its own volition, but the legislators have to vote in order to pass a law.

Clive · Answer

Hi guys,

The house burned.

The kettle boiled.

The bill passed.

Seems simple to me. I don't see any difficulty here.

Clive

CalifJim · Answer

A word from the "Yes, but ..." Department.

The stimulus bill that passed was a thousand pages long.

cannot be considered as simply the same structure as

The stimulus bill that was passed was a thousand pages long.

from which was is removed.

If that were true, we would be able to derive

*The cup that broken was my favorite.

from

The cup that was broken was my favorite.

by a similar removal of was.

It is a mere coincidence that the past and past participle of pass are the same.
Once we use a verb for which the past and the past participle differ, we see that these pairs are not explainable as simple variants of the same structure, one with was, the other without.

CJ

CalifJim · Answer

AlpheccaStarsI prefer the intransitive

But you've been arguing in favor of the transitive in the rest of this thread! You're talking about a passive voice usage of 'pass' -- and that's not possible for an intransitive, because an intransitive has no passive.

Puzzled CJ.

Transitive vs. intransitive

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