open with passive voice

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aysaa

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Hi,

Open: To move a door, window etc so that people, things, air etc can pass through, or to be moved in this way:

The door has been opened by somebody.

I just would like to ask whether we can use like that:

-The door has opened by somebody.

Thanks...
 

Barb_D

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You can, but why would you not want the much more natural "Someone has opened the door"?
 

aysaa

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I know, but I just wanted to learn it.. Thanks for the answer...

Regards...
 

5jj

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The door has been opened by somebody.

I just would like to ask whether we can use like that:

-The door has opened by somebody.
Your last example, in red, is not possible. It must be The door has been opened by somebody or The door was opened by somebody.
 
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Barb_D

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I'm so sorry. I just read the "been" as being there because I expected it to be. My apologies for my misleading answer.
 

aysaa

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1) The shop was opened at 10.00 am yesterday (by someone) (THAT'S OK)

2) The shop opened at 10.00 am yesterday. (THAT'S OK)
(This is a simple sentence in the past tense meaning the opening action was done in the past)

I couldn't understand that because we can constuct both ABOVE. But we can't say 'The shop opened at 10.00 am yesterday by someone'. Why? The verb 'open' also has meaning 'become open'. For this reason I couldn't understand why we can't. :(
 
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5jj

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But we can't say 'The shop opened at 10.00 am yesterday by someone'. Why? The verb 'open' also has meaning 'become open'. For this reason I couldn't understand why we can't. :(
Because the verb is active, so you can't put an agent as as you would with a passive construction. You can choose an active or a passive construction. you can't mix them.
 

aysaa

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We can say:

The mall opens five days a week.
The shop opened at 10.00 am yesterday.
This door opens with a special key.

But we can't construct a sentence with passive voice like that:

This door opens with a special key by a locksmith.
The shop opened at 10.00 am yesterday by the owner.

We have to use like that:

The shop was opened from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. yesterday by the owner.
 
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5jj

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The shop was opened from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. yesterday by the owner.
That is unnatural. It suggests that the opening of the door took the owner 15 hours.
 
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