A couple of boys were slouched over the table

[NAL123]

slouch

1. to stand, sit, or walk with the shoulders hanging forward and the head bent…

dictionary.cambridge.org

1) A couple of boys were slouched over the table reading magazines.

Is this a passive voice sentence?

 

[5jj]

No. Slouched is an adjective there.

 

[jutfrank]

'Slouched' is a state there, not an action. As such there's no implied agent, so it's not passive.

 

[emsr2d2]

Here's a useful (if slightly silly) way to work out if a sentence is in the passive voice: If you can add "by zombies" at the end and it still makes sense, it's passive.

I was killed.
I was killed by zombies.

They were forced to clean the floor.
They were forced to clean the floor by zombies.

My friend had her handbag stolen.
My friend had her handbag stolen by zombies.

A couple of boys were slouched over the table reading magazines.
A couple of boys were slouched over the table reading magazines by zombies.

 

[emsr2d2]

I should point out that, with a completely different meaning (and not a passive one), sentence 4 above is of course possible. It would require zombies to have the ability to write magazines but, hey, who knows what they could do after eating all those brains!

 

[jutfrank]

It would require zombies to have the ability to write magazines

Perhaps this particular horde were more into reading?

A couple of boys were slouched over the table by zombies reading magazines.

 

[Texas Teacher]

I disagree with the idea that "were slouched over the table..." is passive voice. Just think of "were slouched" as a complement to complete the thought. BE (is, am, were...) can be followed by an adjective, i.e. slouched. "...over the table" is a prepositional phrase telling location.

 

[emsr2d2]

I disagree with the idea that "were slouched over the table..." is passive voice.

5jj said in post #3 that it's not passive. My examples in #4 were designed to elaborate on that.

 

[Annabel Lee]

slouch

1. to stand, sit, or walk with the shoulders hanging forward and the head bent…

dictionary.cambridge.org

1) A couple of boys were slouched over the table reading magazines.

Is this a passive voice sentence?

Your dictionary says slouch is an intransitive verb. That's a clue for you, since intransitive verbs can't be used in the passive.

One can slouch, but one can't slouch somebody; therefore, nobody can be slouched by anybody.

There are transitive uses of slouch, but in them the actor acts on his or her own body parts: He slouched his shoulders. And such sentences would never be passivized: His shoulders were slouched by him.

 

[Skrej]

I should point out that, with a completely different meaning (and not a passive one), sentence 4 above is of course possible. It would require zombies to have the ability to write magazines but, hey, who knows what they could do after eating all those brains!

I suppose another non-passive interpretation is that they were slouched over the table reading magazines by (i.e. near or next to) zombies.

Just some lazy boys hanging out with their zombie buddies. I suppose it's presumptive of me to assume they're buddies, but I don't know why you'd hang around zombies you weren't friendly with. Unless maybe the only free table to slouch on was near said zombie strangers.

Presumably the zombies aren't in the mood for brains if everyone's just hanging out, be they friends or strangers.

(AI is fun)

 

[jutfrank]

That scene looks a bit like my morning class of juniors today.

 

[NAL123]

He slouched his shoulders. And such sentences would never be passivized: His shoulders were slouched by him.

This is why I was confused!

2) He slouched his shoulders.
2a) His shoulders were slouched. (Possible; slouched=adjective)
2b) His shoulders were slouched by him. (Not possible)

A non-native speaker could take (2a) to mean (2b), and they would be wrong to do that. And no online dictionary mentions "slouched" as an adjective.

The sentence in question:
1) A couple of boys were slouched over the table reading magazines.

1a) A couple of boys slouched themselves over the table reading magazines.

Is 1a) grammatically possible?

 

[jutfrank]

A couple of boys slouched themselves over the table.

This is okay, being an example of the boys acting on their own bodies. Here, slouched is a transitive verb.

A couple of boys slouched themselves over the table reading magazines.

This is not okay because of the 'reading magazines' part, which doesn't make good sense if the main clause expresses an action rather than a state. You can't really do both actions at the same time.

 

[stanislaw.masny]

A couple of boys slouched themselves over the table.

This is okay, being an example of the boys acting on their own bodies. Here, slouched is a transitive verb.

A couple of boys slouched themselves over the table reading magazines.

This is not okay because of the 'reading magazines' part, which doesn't make good sense if the main clause expresses an action rather than a state. You can't really do both actions at the same time.

I don't understand why you can't do two things at once. I can, for example, sleep and snore simultaneously.

 

[jutfrank]

I can, for example, sleep and snore simultaneously.

Congratulations, but can you sleep and read a magazine at the same time? Can you climb a tree while checking your emails? Would you want to?

 

[stanislaw.masny]

Congratulations, but can you sleep and read a magazine at the same time? Can you climb a tree while checking your emails? Would you want to?

Of course I would. At my age, it's impossible, but when I was young and able-bodied, I couldn't rule out the possibility. My friends in middle school called me a monkey.

 

[Annabel Lee]

. . . no online dictionary mentions "slouched" as an adjective.

The online O.E.D. does, but its examples use attributive position, e.g. with slouched shoulders.

Most past participles can be used adjectivally, whether or not you see an adjective listing for them in dictionaries.

We can place slouched after a copula other than be, such as seem: His shoulders seem slouched.

We can even use slouched as a gradable adjective: His shoulders are very slouched.

1a) A couple of boys slouched themselves over the table reading magazines.

Is 1a) grammatically possible?

With a comma after "table," the sentence works for me:

A couple of boys slouched themselves over the table, reading magazines.​

Perhaps it would work better with a different -ing phrase, where both actions are easier to perform simultaneously:

A couple of boys slouched themselves over the table, laughing uproariously.​

​

As to why the comma is needed here but not in the original example, with were slouched over the table, this has to do with the fact that were slouched over the table simply specifies their spacial position while reading magazines, whereas slouched themselves over the table refers to their act of assuming that position. The comma-free construction tends to work only when the first part of the sentence is stative:

He was in the shower whistling Beethoven's 5th.​

He was across the street buying a newspaper.​