[lbo-talk] VERY off-topic: for the English teachers (probably not profs)

christian bayes christianbayes01 at gmail.com
Mon Oct 17 11:54:24 PDT 2011


1. The example sentence doesn't contain the passive voice. (Go is an intransitive verb, and so cannot be formed in the passive voice.)

2. In the sentence below, "gone" is not part of a participle, which is by definition a noun or an adjective. A sentence using the past (perfect) participle of gone might be the following: "Having gone to the store, my sister missed the mailman."

christian

On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 2:00 PM, Joseph Catron <jncatron at gmail.com> wrote:


> A friend of mine had a squabble with her grammar professor and wants me, as
> a native English-speaker, to say she's right. The question under dispute:
>
> Is a past participle a verb or an adjective in the passive?
>
> For example, in the statement, "We would have gone if not for the rain," is
> "gone" a verb, an adjective, or what?
>
> Despite my literature degree, I have no clue. (Truth be told, I had
> forgotten what a past participle is.) And after a bunch of Googling, I'm no
> closer to an answer. Any insights?
>
> --
> "Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen
> lytlað."
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list