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ClarissaMach
Joined: 18 May 2006
Posts: 644
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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 Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 10:49 am Post subject: "Were began/become |
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Is it correct to say that something "was began/was become"?
Why not simply saying "something began" or "became"?
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redset
Joined: 18 Mar 2006
Posts: 582
Location: England
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| Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 2:17 pm Post subject: |
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You'd say 'was begun' because you're using the past participle with was - it's a passive form, it was begun by something. You'd just say 'it began' if you didn't want to imply that someone or something in particular started it.
Heh, I think technically 'was become' is correct (the passive form again) but I have never, ever heard anyone use it. To be on the safe side, just use 'became'  |
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Anuradha Chepur
Joined: 20 May 2006
Posts: 933
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| Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 1:25 am Post subject: |
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I think become cannot be passivized, which is why neither redset, nor I/anybody would have heard it.
Only transitive verbs can be passivised. Become is intransitive and more like the linking verb be. |
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redset
Joined: 18 Mar 2006
Posts: 582
Location: England
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| Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 3:36 pm Post subject: |
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Well I looked it up in a few online dictionaries before I replied, and they do all list become as the past participle of become, and you can find it being used that way in some older texts. Maybe it was in common use at some earlier period - it really just sounds completely awkward to me though  |
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Anuradha Chepur
Joined: 20 May 2006
Posts: 933
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| Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 5:01 am Post subject: |
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| Ofcourse, become has a past participle which is become. What it can't have is the passive usage of the pp. The pp is used in perfect tenses. (eg. He has become old.) |
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redset
Joined: 18 Mar 2006
Posts: 582
Location: England
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| Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 9:25 am Post subject: |
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| You're right - I'd forgotten about the most obvious usage. This is what I get for posting late at night! |
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lotus
Joined: 25 Jan 2004
Posts: 862
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| Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:45 am Post subject: |
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Hi,
"Begun" can be in the passive voice, whereas "become" cannot (because it is a linking verb as Dr. Chepur indicated.) It is reflexive in the sense that it equates a subject with its complement. Since it's reflexive, the object cannot act on the subject. That is because the object is the subject.
Moonlight becomes her.
Begun does not have such a restriction and can be passive:
Apple Computers was begun by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in a garage in San Jose.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak began Apple Computers in a garage in San Jose.
--lotus
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