the use of “can be” in passive voice The Next CEO of Stack OverflowStyle Question: Use of “we” vs. “I” vs. passive voice in a dissertationMix active and passive voice in the thesis“Replace with” versus “replace by”Present simple Passive - Change in the meaning when translate from active to passive or Vice versaIs it right to say “Smokers should be got rid of”?Very confused! Past Participles As Adjectives or Passive Voice express a routine or an on-going taskSo, “The company's meetings are scheduled” means “someone schedules them (regularly)” or “someone is scheduling them (right now)”?The passive voice of ''apply''How can I write the following sentence in passive voice?Can anyone prove this sentence is in the passive voice?
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the use of “can be” in passive voice
The Next CEO of Stack OverflowStyle Question: Use of “we” vs. “I” vs. passive voice in a dissertationMix active and passive voice in the thesis“Replace with” versus “replace by”Present simple Passive - Change in the meaning when translate from active to passive or Vice versaIs it right to say “Smokers should be got rid of”?Very confused! Past Participles As Adjectives or Passive Voice express a routine or an on-going taskSo, “The company's meetings are scheduled” means “someone schedules them (regularly)” or “someone is scheduling them (right now)”?The passive voice of ''apply''How can I write the following sentence in passive voice?Can anyone prove this sentence is in the passive voice?
I'm not a native English speaker and I see a sort of striking contradiction in the use of the expression in the passive voice
something can/can not be + past participle
e.g
the problem can not be solved
or
the door can be opened
I know what the English native speakers want to say with this expresion but I see it weird to attribute "can" to an object ; then "can" and the passive voice are contradictory - isn't it like saying :
the door can undergo to be opened
1)"can" and "undergo" does not go together !
2)It's human that can,not objects (such as "doors") or abstract things (such as "problems")
I know ,maybe, I have not well explained my idea - but is this a legacy from an old language or just an habit that became a rule ?
passive-voice contradiction
asked 2 hours ago
jihed gasmijihed gasmi
1042
New contributor
jihed gasmi is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
I'm not a native English speaker and I see a sort of striking contradiction in the use of the expression in the passive voice
something can/can not be + past participle
e.g
the problem can not be solved
or
the door can be opened
I know what the English native speakers want to say with this expresion but I see it weird to attribute "can" to an object ; then "can" and the passive voice are contradictory - isn't it like saying :
the door can undergo to be opened
1)"can" and "undergo" does not go together !
2)It's human that can,not objects (such as "doors") or abstract things (such as "problems")
I know ,maybe, I have not well explained my idea - but is this a legacy from an old language or just an habit that became a rule ?
passive-voice contradiction
asked 2 hours ago
jihed gasmijihed gasmi
1042
New contributor
jihed gasmi is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
I'm not a native English speaker and I see a sort of striking contradiction in the use of the expression in the passive voice
something can/can not be + past participle
e.g
the problem can not be solved
or
the door can be opened
I know what the English native speakers want to say with this expresion but I see it weird to attribute "can" to an object ; then "can" and the passive voice are contradictory - isn't it like saying :
the door can undergo to be opened
1)"can" and "undergo" does not go together !
2)It's human that can,not objects (such as "doors") or abstract things (such as "problems")
I know ,maybe, I have not well explained my idea - but is this a legacy from an old language or just an habit that became a rule ?
passive-voice contradiction
asked 2 hours ago
jihed gasmijihed gasmi
1042
New contributor
jihed gasmi is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I'm not a native English speaker and I see a sort of striking contradiction in the use of the expression in the passive voice
something can/can not be + past participle
e.g
the problem can not be solved
or
the door can be opened
I know what the English native speakers want to say with this expresion but I see it weird to attribute "can" to an object ; then "can" and the passive voice are contradictory - isn't it like saying :
the door can undergo to be opened
1)"can" and "undergo" does not go together !
2)It's human that can,not objects (such as "doors") or abstract things (such as "problems")
I know ,maybe, I have not well explained my idea - but is this a legacy from an old language or just an habit that became a rule ?
passive-voice contradiction
passive-voice contradiction
asked 2 hours ago
jihed gasmijihed gasmi
1042
New contributor
jihed gasmi is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 2 hours ago
jihed gasmijihed gasmi
1042
New contributor
jihed gasmi is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 2 hours ago
jihed gasmijihed gasmi
1042
New contributor
jihed gasmi is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 2 hours ago
jihed gasmijihed gasmi
1042
asked 2 hours ago
jihed gasmijihed gasmi
1042
1042
New contributor
jihed gasmi is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
jihed gasmi is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
jihed gasmi is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
add a comment |
2 Answers
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oldest
votes
"Can" is potentially ambiguous between a permission sense and a possibility sense. "This door can be opened" in the permission sense is "Someone (unspecified) has permission (for that person(s)) to open the door" but in the possibility sense means "It is possible (for someone/thing) to open the door."
In the possibility sense, there is no change of sense when the clause with "open" is passivized: "It is possible for the door to be opened (by someone/thing), which can be expressed using "can": "The door can be opened (by someone/thing)."
In the permission sense, however, passivizing makes for a difficulty. "Someone (unspecified) has permission for the door to be opened (by that person(s))" is not entirely coherent, and it cannot be simplified and rephrased with "can", "The door can be opened", because it implies that "the door" is receiving permission. Doors are not people, so they can't be given permission.
answered 12 mins ago
Greg LeeGreg Lee
14.9k2933
add a comment |
That is an interesting observation you are making. I think you are trying to say that the actual subject of the sentence doesn't appear to be the logical subject, and there is no logical subject in fact. I.e., "The problem cannot be solved" can be paraphrased as "It is not possible for the problem to be solved."
A similar phenomenon in English is with the word seem. E.g., "Thomas seems to be angry." is like saying "It seems that Thomas is angry." This is called "raising" in Linguistics literature.
answered 1 hour ago
jlovegrenjlovegren
12.2k12145
add a comment |
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2 Answers
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2 Answers
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active
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"Can" is potentially ambiguous between a permission sense and a possibility sense. "This door can be opened" in the permission sense is "Someone (unspecified) has permission (for that person(s)) to open the door" but in the possibility sense means "It is possible (for someone/thing) to open the door."
In the possibility sense, there is no change of sense when the clause with "open" is passivized: "It is possible for the door to be opened (by someone/thing), which can be expressed using "can": "The door can be opened (by someone/thing)."
In the permission sense, however, passivizing makes for a difficulty. "Someone (unspecified) has permission for the door to be opened (by that person(s))" is not entirely coherent, and it cannot be simplified and rephrased with "can", "The door can be opened", because it implies that "the door" is receiving permission. Doors are not people, so they can't be given permission.
answered 12 mins ago
Greg LeeGreg Lee
14.9k2933
add a comment |
"Can" is potentially ambiguous between a permission sense and a possibility sense. "This door can be opened" in the permission sense is "Someone (unspecified) has permission (for that person(s)) to open the door" but in the possibility sense means "It is possible (for someone/thing) to open the door."
In the possibility sense, there is no change of sense when the clause with "open" is passivized: "It is possible for the door to be opened (by someone/thing), which can be expressed using "can": "The door can be opened (by someone/thing)."
In the permission sense, however, passivizing makes for a difficulty. "Someone (unspecified) has permission for the door to be opened (by that person(s))" is not entirely coherent, and it cannot be simplified and rephrased with "can", "The door can be opened", because it implies that "the door" is receiving permission. Doors are not people, so they can't be given permission.
answered 12 mins ago
Greg LeeGreg Lee
14.9k2933
add a comment |
"Can" is potentially ambiguous between a permission sense and a possibility sense. "This door can be opened" in the permission sense is "Someone (unspecified) has permission (for that person(s)) to open the door" but in the possibility sense means "It is possible (for someone/thing) to open the door."
In the possibility sense, there is no change of sense when the clause with "open" is passivized: "It is possible for the door to be opened (by someone/thing), which can be expressed using "can": "The door can be opened (by someone/thing)."
In the permission sense, however, passivizing makes for a difficulty. "Someone (unspecified) has permission for the door to be opened (by that person(s))" is not entirely coherent, and it cannot be simplified and rephrased with "can", "The door can be opened", because it implies that "the door" is receiving permission. Doors are not people, so they can't be given permission.
answered 12 mins ago
Greg LeeGreg Lee
14.9k2933
"Can" is potentially ambiguous between a permission sense and a possibility sense. "This door can be opened" in the permission sense is "Someone (unspecified) has permission (for that person(s)) to open the door" but in the possibility sense means "It is possible (for someone/thing) to open the door."
In the possibility sense, there is no change of sense when the clause with "open" is passivized: "It is possible for the door to be opened (by someone/thing), which can be expressed using "can": "The door can be opened (by someone/thing)."
In the permission sense, however, passivizing makes for a difficulty. "Someone (unspecified) has permission for the door to be opened (by that person(s))" is not entirely coherent, and it cannot be simplified and rephrased with "can", "The door can be opened", because it implies that "the door" is receiving permission. Doors are not people, so they can't be given permission.
answered 12 mins ago
Greg LeeGreg Lee
14.9k2933
answered 12 mins ago
Greg LeeGreg Lee
14.9k2933
answered 12 mins ago
Greg LeeGreg Lee
14.9k2933
answered 12 mins ago
Greg LeeGreg Lee
14.9k2933
14.9k2933
add a comment |
add a comment |
That is an interesting observation you are making. I think you are trying to say that the actual subject of the sentence doesn't appear to be the logical subject, and there is no logical subject in fact. I.e., "The problem cannot be solved" can be paraphrased as "It is not possible for the problem to be solved."
A similar phenomenon in English is with the word seem. E.g., "Thomas seems to be angry." is like saying "It seems that Thomas is angry." This is called "raising" in Linguistics literature.
answered 1 hour ago
jlovegrenjlovegren
12.2k12145
add a comment |
That is an interesting observation you are making. I think you are trying to say that the actual subject of the sentence doesn't appear to be the logical subject, and there is no logical subject in fact. I.e., "The problem cannot be solved" can be paraphrased as "It is not possible for the problem to be solved."
A similar phenomenon in English is with the word seem. E.g., "Thomas seems to be angry." is like saying "It seems that Thomas is angry." This is called "raising" in Linguistics literature.
answered 1 hour ago
jlovegrenjlovegren
12.2k12145
add a comment |
That is an interesting observation you are making. I think you are trying to say that the actual subject of the sentence doesn't appear to be the logical subject, and there is no logical subject in fact. I.e., "The problem cannot be solved" can be paraphrased as "It is not possible for the problem to be solved."
A similar phenomenon in English is with the word seem. E.g., "Thomas seems to be angry." is like saying "It seems that Thomas is angry." This is called "raising" in Linguistics literature.
answered 1 hour ago
jlovegrenjlovegren
12.2k12145
That is an interesting observation you are making. I think you are trying to say that the actual subject of the sentence doesn't appear to be the logical subject, and there is no logical subject in fact. I.e., "The problem cannot be solved" can be paraphrased as "It is not possible for the problem to be solved."
A similar phenomenon in English is with the word seem. E.g., "Thomas seems to be angry." is like saying "It seems that Thomas is angry." This is called "raising" in Linguistics literature.
answered 1 hour ago
jlovegrenjlovegren
12.2k12145
answered 1 hour ago
jlovegrenjlovegren
12.2k12145
answered 1 hour ago
jlovegrenjlovegren
12.2k12145
answered 1 hour ago
jlovegrenjlovegren
12.2k12145
12.2k12145
add a comment |
add a comment |
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