[Vocabulary] Verb tenses of "to drive out" - need some hints.

[chr0710]

Hi I'm learning about verb tenses, and I have a question regarding the sentence "To drive someone out" as in "Our family was driven out of the Far north" (past sample)

And I wanted to know: It seems like the verb "drive" changes depending on the following 2 situations

Military drive out families (simple present)
Families are driven out by the military. (simple present right?)

Are we not in the same time/verb tense in both situations? Then how come drive changes to driven? Is there gramatical a word/explanation for this?

I assume the time is past simple in both these situations?

They drove out our family (past simple)
Our family was driven out by someone (past simple still?)

 

[emsr2d2]

Yes, "was driven out" is the past simple passive.

They drove me out. (Past simple active)
I was driven out by them. (Past simple passive)

They have driven me out. (Present perfect active)
I have been driven out by them. (Present perfect passive)

They had driven me out. (Past perfect active)
I had been driven out by them. (Past perfect passive)

 

[PaulMatthews]

Hi I'm learning about verb tenses, and I have a question regarding the sentence "To drive someone out" as in "Our family was driven out of the Far north" (past sample)

And I wanted to know: It seems like the verb "drive" changes depending on the following 2 situations

Military drive out families (simple present)

PM: Yes

Families are driven out by the military. (simple present right?)

PM: No; "are" + past participle "driven" used to form passive voice (note the by- phrase which is typical of passives).

Are we not in the same time/verb tense in both situations? Then how come drive changes to driven? Is there gramatical a word/explanation for this?

PM: Yes - the change is not about time but from active voice to passive voice.

I assume the time is past simple in both these situations?

They drove out our family (past simple)

PM: Yes

Our family was driven out by someone (past simple still?)

PM: Same time, but "was" + past participle "driven" to form the passive voice.

Does that help?

 

[chr0710]

Does that help?

Thank you, Yes It makes good sense: So is it correct to say that

"Families were driven out by sb" is past simple (time) in a passive voice where "were" and past participle "driven" is used, or is "past simple" vs "were" + past participle not the same time/thing? I'm just wondering how to explain it correctly with words.

"Families are driven out by sb" is Are + past participle in simple present time?

 

[chr0710]

I think I get it: So if we take the verb "drink" then the past participle is drunk, so do we use "drunk" for ALL verb tenses when it's passive voice or is "Drunken" used sometimes instead? I tried some examples.

I drink a bottle of water (present simple- active)
A bottle of water is drunk by me (present simple - passive with past participle "drunk")

I'm drinking a bottle of water (present continuous - active)
A bottle of water is being drunk by me (present continuous - passive)

I drank a bottle of water yesterday (past simple - active)
A bottle of water was drunk by me yesterday (past simple - passive)

I was drinking a bottle of water yesterday when my mom called (past continuous - active)
A bottle of water was being drunk by me yesterday when my mom called (past continuous - passive)

I have drunk a bottle of water many times before (present perfect - active)
A bottle has been drunk by me many times before (present perfect - passive)

I have been drinking a bottle of water for 15 minutes (present perfect continuous - active )
A bottle of water has been drunk by me for 15 minutes (present perfect continuous - passive)

I had been drinking a bottle of water for 15 minutes when she arrives (past perfect continuous - active)
A bottle of water had been drunk by me for 15 minutes when she arrives ( Past perfect continuous - passive)

 

[chr0710]

We do not use 'drunken' in passive constructions. None of the passive sentences you have produced is natural.

Thank you Are none the passive sentences I produced natural? I though I correctly applied correctly what I had just learned? What's incorrect about them? I'm curious now.

 

[chr0710]

Just a last one

· Since that day, we have earned our living as best we could. (present perfect )
· Since that day, we have had to earn our living as best we could. (present perfect - it's just the verb have that's being conjugated instead of earn)

 

[chr0710]

They are not grammaticaloy incorrect. It's just that very few native speakers would ever think of producing such sentences.

Well to be honest, I never think I have produced such a sentence in public either

If I replaced with word drink with Driven (and bottle of water with car) then maybe it sounds better?

 

[Rover_KE]

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