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He is resembled by his son?

 
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sungstar



Joined: 08 Nov 2006
Posts: 6

PostPosted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 5:44 pm    Post subject: He is resembled by his son? Reply with quote

Hi,
For some reason, the question I posted disappered, so I'm writing again.
I wonder if the sentence "He is resembled by his son." is correct. I know there are some active verbs which can not form a sentence in passive voice, but which verbs?
Thank you.
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Anuradha Chepur



Joined: 20 May 2006
Posts: 933

PostPosted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 7:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Intransitive verbs cannot be passivised. (eg. go, sleep, die etc)

A passive is not to be used for the heck of it, and only so when the doer/agent is unknown/unimportant/understood.
The exams have been postponed. (The agent is understood - the board.)
The room has been cleaned. (Who has done it is unimportant/unknown, what matters is whether the room is cleaned or not.)

A passive is used only when it makes sense
His son resembles him. This doen't make sense in the passive.


Last edited by Anuradha Chepur on Mon Nov 20, 2006 1:31 am; edited 1 time in total
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Lorikeet



Joined: 08 Oct 2005
Posts: 1877
Location: San Francisco

PostPosted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 9:07 pm    Post subject: Re: He is resembled by his son? Reply with quote

sungstar wrote:
Hi,
For some reason, the question I posted disappered, so I'm writing again.
I wonder if the sentence "He is resembled by his son." is correct. I know there are some active verbs which can not form a sentence in passive voice, but which verbs?
Thank you.


Actually, it didn't disappear, but it was in a different forum. I found out when I moved it here and found this one too, so I deleted the other one.
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