Using passive voice
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Students' problems | page 2 of 6 |
Passive voice with intransitive verbs
Students sometimes use what looks like passive voice with intransitive
verbs:
Many people were died in the storm. (TeleNex Students)
Many people died in the storm.She was graduated from Hong Kong University. (TeleNex Students)
She graduated from Hong Kong University.The wind came over again and again. Suddenly, the tree was fallen onto the ground. (TeleNex Students)
The wind came over again and again. Suddenly, the tree fell onto the ground.
In such cases, it is possible that the students are confusing intransitive verbs like die,
graduate and fall with transitive verbs like kill, eg many
people were killed in the storm; expel, eg she
was expelled from Hong Kong University; and blow, eg the
tree was blown onto the ground.
On the other hand, it may be that the students are not be trying to use passive voice at all. They may have come to believe that was and were are general markers of past tense.
For further information about the use of passive voice with transitive and intransitive
verbs, see 
Using passive voice: Passive voice
and transitivity.
Introduction
Passive voice with intransitive verbs
