Karl (and others):

Does labeling a verb as being in the active voice imply that it is
transitive, and therefore can be put in the passive voice?
That is, you can't put a non-accusative verb in the passive voice (e.g.
"The plan landed"); so can such a verb be properly said to be in the active
voice?
Or am I not understanding the notion of "voice" correctly?

Seth Katz

*Dr. Seth Katz*
*Associate **Professor*
*Associate Chair*
*Department of English*
*Bradley University*
*Peoria, IL  61625*

*Executive Director / Faculty Advisor*
*Bradley University Hillel*

On Wed, Mar 11, 2015 at 12:50 PM, Karl Hagen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> The stative/dynamic distinction is semantic (an expression of
> aspectuality), and I take passive voice to be primarily a syntactic
> construction.
>
> Although it's true that adjectival passives will always have a stative
> interpretation, and that ambiguities such as B typically turn on whether
> we understand the situation as stative or dynamic, it's also the case that
> some passive-voice constructions can be stative (e.g, "She is loved by
> everyone.")
>
> For your example, I take this to be an instance of a so-called
> unaccusative verb, along the lines of:
>
> The pilot landed the plane. / The plane landed.
> The wind opened the door. / The door opened.
> The sun dried up the fields. / The fields dried up.
>
> So I take your example to be active voice. In other words, the mere fact
> that the semantic role of the subject is something other than
> agent/instrument isn't sufficient to call something passive.
>
> > On Mar 11, 2015, at 10:09 AM, Hancock, Craig G <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> >
> > Karl,
> >    Where would "stative" fit in?
> >    And how do we deal with something like "The fields dried up in the
> sun?"
> >
> > Craig
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:
> [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Karl Hagen
> > Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2015 12:15 PM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: ATEG Digest - 9 Mar 2015 to 10 Mar 2015 (#2015-19)
> >
> > It depends on whether you regard voice to be a property of the verb or a
> structural pattern of a clause. The former is the assumption, implicit or
> otherwise, in most traditional grammar books. In the 19th century,
> intransitive verbs were often said to be in the "middle" voice to account
> for this gap. On the other hand, much work in modern linguistics takes the
> second analysis to be more accurate. As a type of clause, there's no real
> problem. You simply say that the active-voice pattern is the unmarked
> default, and hence applies to anything that is not passive voice.
> >
> >
> >> On Mar 11, 2015, at 8:37 AM, Beth Young <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >>
> >> Interesting!  Passive voice is something that only transitive verbs can
> have, but I've never considered active voice to be limited to transitive
> verbs. I've always considered all verbs that are conjugated with the
> formula "Tense + Modal (have + -en) (be + -ing) Main Verb" to be active
> voice, and verbs conjugated with the formula "Tense + Modal (have + -en)
> (be + -ing) + be + -en + Main Verb" to be passive voice. Otherwise,
> wouldn't many verbs have no voice at all? Maybe that doesn't matter.
> >>
> >> Hats off to any 8th grade teachers who wade into this question with
> >> their students. :)
> >>
> >> Beth
> >>
> >> Dr. Beth Rapp Young
> >> Associate Professor, English
> >> [log in to unmask]
> >>
> >> University of Central Florida
> >> "Reach for the Stars"
> >> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
> >> [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Don Stewart
> >> [[log in to unmask]]
> >> Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2015 11:05 AM
> >> To: [log in to unmask]
> >> Subject: Re: ATEG Digest - 9 Mar 2015 to 10 Mar 2015 (#2015-19)
> >>
> >> Beth,
> >>
> >> If you consider "surprised" to be adjectival, then doesn't that make
> "was" a linking verb? In that case, there is no action verb, and thus no
> active voice.
> >>
> >> Don ​ Stewart​
> >> writingwhatever.com
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
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