Passive – intransitive verbs

Never Passive

Intransitive Verbs With No Passive Form

Intransitive vs. Transitive Verbs

INTRANSITIVE VERB	TRANSITIVE VERB
An intransitive verb is an action that happens by itself. The verb is not used with an object; therefore, no passive form can be used.	A transitive verb is an action that someone or something does to something or someone. The verb is used with an object. A passive form can be used.
The earthquake happened on March 11, 2011 in Japan.	The tsunami wave killed hundreds of people.
The earthquake was happened on March 11, 2011 in Japan.	Hundreds of people were killed by the tsunami wave (that followed the earthquake).

Other intransitive verb contrasts: lie-lay sit-set rise-raise

Some Intransitive Verbs

These verbs do not occur with objects, so they cannot be used in the passive voice.

agree	appear	arrived	awake	become
belong	collapse	collide	consist of	cost
depend	die	disappear	emerge	exist
fall	go	happen	have*	laugh
lie	live	look	last (endure)	occur
remain	resemble	rise	sit	sleep
stand	stay	swim	vanish	wait

*Except: I was had. (slang) – someone took advantage of me.

Other Intransitive Verbs

Stative Verbs (States of Being)

Stative Verbs with No Passive Form

INTRANSITIVE VERB	TRANSITIVE VERB
Most stative verbs do not take passive form. However, in some cases a verb may have an intransitive and a transitive verb meaning. Note that the intransitive meaning of weigh has no passive form.	The transitive meaning of the verb weigh does have a passive verb form.

ACTIVE VERB Arnold weighs 250 lbs. (stative verb)	ACTIVE VERB The doctor weighed the baby. (active verb + has an object)
(no passive possible)	PASSIVE VERB VERB The baby was weighed by the doctor.

(Do not confuse the stative verbs with their "active" forms. See stative verbs.)

Some Stative Verbs

MENTAL STATES	EMOTIONAL STATES	STATES OF POSSESSION	SENSE PERCEPTIONS	OTHER STATES
know / think / believe	love (can be passive)	have	taste (can be passive)	seem / appear / look
want / need / desire	like (can be passive)	belong	smell (can be passive)	resemble / look like
feel / suppose / imagine	appreciate (can be passive)	own	hear (can be passive)	cost / owe / weigh / equal / add up to
understand / recognize	prefer (can be passive)	possess	see (can be passive)	be / exist / matter
forget / remember	fear (can be passive)		feel (can be passive)	consist of / contain / include

Also see Stative Verbs (especially note the contrast of passive and active states for some verbs)

Common Mistakes

ERROR	FIX
*The accident was happened a week ago. (A transitive verb has no object and, therefore, cannot be passive)	The accident happened a week ago.
*My mother bore me in 1981. (The active form is hardly ever used.)	I was born in 1981.
The prices is included a breakfast with the room.	The price includes a breakfast with the room. Breakfast is included in the price of the room
*The College of San Mateo locates on a hilltop. (The verb has a different meaning in active and passive forms.)	The College of San Mateo is located on a hilltop. (exists) The Board of Regents will locate the new college on a hilltop. (to situate / to build)
The car was cost me just three thousand dollars.	The car cost me three thousand dollars. (not used in the passive form) I was charged three thousand dollars for the car.

Practice

Earthquake

Select the word that best complete the sentence.

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Afterwards, compare your responses to the feedback by clicking the check buttons.

#	YOUR RESPONSE	FEEDBACK
1.	I'll never forget the earthquake in Italy. It on April 6, 2009.
2.	The earthquake in the middle of the night. It caused my city over night.
3.	Every thing and was moved around. Our car with other cars on the street . collide (v.) – crash
4.	The earthquake only a couple of minutes. In that short time, every thing .
5.	After it stopped, I looked around. The house I had been sleeping in . The house a deck of cards. It had fallen down. resemble (v.) – look like
6.	I outside for something familiar. Everything . There were just stones and rocks on the ground.
7.	I heard people walking around and shouting. I .
8.	Suddenly, my father in front of me. I was so relieved.
9.	In the next few hours, people from the fallen buildings and were walking in the street looking for their family members. emerge (v.) – come out of
10.	My family, which of five people, became only two.

Practice 2

Stromboli

Read for errors:

Stromboli is a small island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the north coast of Sicily, and contains one of the three active volcanoes in Italy. The volcano is erupted many times, and is constantly active with minor eruptions every 15 to 20 minutes. Because one can see the volcano from many points on the island and from the surrounding sea, it called "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean".
A Strombolian eruption typically results in a few mild energetic bursts of ash and bits of lava that go a few hundred meters up in the air and then fall back down. Stromboli's activity is almost always small explosions, but occasionally is consisted of explosions and lava flows as it did in 2002, 2006 and 2007.
The island is included three villages: San Bartolo and San Vincenzo in the northeast, and the smaller village Ginostra in the southwest. The island has as many as 2,000 visitors in the summer. However, only approximately 600 people are remained there in the winter.

Though the lava flows were not occurred near the villages, the volcano bursts can send large rocks into the sea causing small tsunamis, which in the past have destroyed fishing boats and parts of the harbor. In case of emergency, regular evacuation drills are held in which the residents gather in the piazza.
"But there's no reason to think that anything extraordinary will happen in the short term. The population is not at risk." Fortunately, nothing was happened during the last big eruption to these brave souls living on the side of a live volcano.
– Reuters 28 Feb 2007

ash (n.) – the soft grey powder that remains after something has been burned:
burst (n.) – event in which the volcano has a sudden, violent release of gas or lava
evacuation (n.) – a temporary emptying or departure
eruption (n.) – when something explodes and sends smoke, fire, and rock into the sky
lava (n.) – hot liquid rock that flows from a volcano
piazza (n.) – central square of the village

Edit the sentence(s).

Write your corrections for the sentence in the text area
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#	YOUR RESPONSE	ANSWER CHECK
11.	Stromboli is a small island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the north coast of Sicily, and contains one of the three active volcanoes in Italy. The volcano is erupted many times, and is constantly active with minor eruptions every 15 to 20 minutes. EDIT 11: Stromboli is a small island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the north coast of Sicily, and contains one of the three active volcanoes in Italy. The volcano is erupted many times, and is constantly active with minor eruptions every 15 to 20 minutes.
12.	Because one can see the volcano from many points on the island and from the surrounding sea, it called "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean". EDIT 12: Because one can see the volcano from many points on the island and from the surrounding sea, it called “Lighthouse of the Mediterranean”.
13.	A Strombolian eruption typically results in a few mild energetic bursts of ash and bits of lava that go a few hundred meters up in the air and then fall back down. Stromboli's activity is almost always small explosions, but occasionally is consisted of explosions and lava flows as it did in 2002, 2006 and 2007. EDIT 13: A Strombolian eruption typically results in a few mild energetic bursts of ash and bits of lava that go a few hundred meters up in the air and then fall back down. Stromboli's activity is almost always small explosions, but occasionally is consisted of explosions and lava flows as it did in 2002, 2006 and 2007.
14.	The island is included three villages: San Bartolo and San Vincenzo in the northeast, and the smaller village Ginostra in the southwest. EDIT 14: The island is included three villages: San Bartolo and San Vincenzo in the northeast, and the smaller village Ginostra in the southwest.
15.	The island has as many as 2,000 visitors in the summer. However, only approximately 600 people are remained there in the winter. EDIT 15: The island has as many as 2,000 visitors in the summer. However, only approximately 600 people are remained there in the winter.
16.	Though the lava flows were not occurred near the villages, the volcano bursts can send large rocks into the sea causing small tsunamis, which in the past have destroyed fishing boats and parts of the harbor. EDIT 16: Though the lava flows were not occurred near the villages, the volcano bursts can send large rocks into the sea causing small tsunamis, which in the past have destroyed fishing boats and parts of the harbor.
17.	In case of emergency, regular evacuation drills are held in which the residents gather in the piazza. EDIT 17: In case of emergency, regular evacuation drills are held in which the residents gather in the piazza.
18.	"But there's no reason to think that anything extraordinary will happen in the short term. The population is not at risk." Fortunately, nothing was happened during the last big eruption to these brave souls living on the side of a live volcano. EDIT 18: “But there's no reason to think that anything extraordinary will happen in the short term. The population is not at risk.” Fortunately, nothing was happened to these brave souls who make their home on the side of a live volcano.

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