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> Hell, I just rewrote the previous sentence to use the passive voice Well, sort of. You used the passive voice, but you didn't use it on any finite verbs, pla
by thaumasiotes 1y ago
> Hell, I just rewrote the previous sentence to use the passive voice
Well, sort of. You used the passive voice, but you didn't use it on any finite verbs, placing your example well outside the scope of the normal "don't use the passive voice" advice.
- kragen 1y agoWhat would it mean to use the passive voice on a finite verb?
- thaumasiotes 1y agoIt would mean that somewhere in your sentence there's a clause headed by a passive verb. A finite verb is one that heads a clause. This terminology is where we get the name of the "infinitive" form from, by the way. As a rule of thumb, the nonfinite forms of a verb are its infinitives and participles. jcranmer used a passive participle, but all of his clauses are active. Unnoticed doesn't have a clause around it. (He might have thought that go unnoticed is a passive form, perhaps of the verb notice (?), in which case that would just be an error.)