To proven or not to proven

[RuthOU]

I have come across this expression:

"there is no shame in learning from what has proven to work elsewhere"

my gut feeling says it should be "has been proven" because prove is a transitive verb?

Any comments please.

Thanks

[Tdol]

Yes and no; the active form can be used, though the underlying idea is passive.

[BobK]

Originally Posted by RuthOU

I have come across this expression:

"there is no shame in learning from what has proven to work elsewhere"

my gut feeling says it should be "has been proven" because prove is a transitive verb?

Any comments please.

Thanks

Would you have less of a problem with that sentence if it read: "there is no shame in learning from what has proved to work elsewhere"? If something 'proves to work' it just 'turns out/happens to work'; there's no strong implication of 'proof' - no person in a white coat demonstrating what is true.

There is a tendency today to apply a rule "simple past - proved. past participle - proven"; for all I know, some people may have been taught that. But although this would make a consistent rule of thumb it doesn't reflect usage. People use either form for either function.

b

PS
Correction:

proved - either simple past or past participle
proven - past participle