View Single Post
  #28 (permalink)  
Old 19-Oct-2005, 11:53
JJM Ballantyne JJM Ballantyne is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Country: Canada
Posts: 92
Current Location: UK
First Language: French
Member Type: Academic
Thanks: 0
Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts
JJM Ballantyne is on a distinguished road
Default Re: passive participles

Sorry, I simply don't agree that there is such a thing as a "passive participle" in English.

I can accept that there are two participle forms in English: the so-called "present/progressive" ("-ing words") and the "past" ("-(e)d/irregular" words). But there is no form of a verb or participle in English that is intrinsically and distinctly passive.

Now I do not deny for one moment that there is a passive voice in English. But that voice is expressed by word constructions rather than unique word forms. There is nothing in the word "loved" to indicate it is passive.* It takes the construction "be+past participle" to create the passive voice:

I am loved

Neither "am" nor "loved" of themselves provide any passive meaning:

I am angry (no passive voice here)

He loved that dog (no passive voice here)

Where other languages might rely on inflected word forms, English relies on word constructions to create the same semantic effect.

So again, I maintain there is no such thing as a "passive participle" in our language.

* For that matter, because "loved" is a regular "-(e)d" word, there is no intrinsic quality to indicate that it is a participle either. It needs to be hitched up with another word to take on that function.
Reply With Quote