was surrendered

Question

Can I say,The thief was surrendered by the police.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

Vincent TeoThe thief was surrendered by the police. No. The thief was surrounded by the police.

To surrender is intransitive. It's what the thief does when he's surrounded. The thief surrendered. The thief surrendered to the police.

Best wishes, - A.

Abil · Answer

The thief was surrendered by the police.

I think we can say:

The police made the thief to surrender.

Avangi · Answer

AbilThe thief was surrendered by the police. Still, no. The police are not the ones who do it.

I think we can say:

The police made the thief to surrender.

That's correct, but please use the bare infinitive (omit the to). They could also make him throw up (vomit). But in both cases, the thief performs the action described by the verbs in question, not the police. The verb describing what the police do is to make (somebody do something).

You wouldn't say, "The police vomited the thief," or "The thief was vomited by the police."

Clive · Answer

Hi,
I think we can say:

The police made the thief to surrender.
You can say it. But perhaps the police didn't make him do it. Perhaps he surrendered because he realized the error of his ways, or because he realized that some other bad guy was trying to kill him and he'd be safer in jail.
Clive

was surrendered

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