The words"listen", "laugh", "work" etc. are intransitive verbs, but why are they used in passive sentences with preposition "to", "at" and "on" etc.?
He laughed at me
I worked on the computer [The computer was worked on by me]
I listened to him [He was listened to by me]
I looked at him [He was looked at by me]
The important point which I want to ask is that;
When intransitive verbs are used with prepositions (laugh at, listen to, work on etc...), are they considered as transitive verbs?
I am much confused about the conversion of intransitive verbs into passive voice, I am surprised how is it possible, Please help me understand this.
Thank you so much!
Passive voice of intransitive verbs
Moderator: Alan
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moazzam
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Alan
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Re: Passive voice of intransitive verbs
Not really.
The lexical verbs themselves are not automatically considered transitive simply because they are followed by a preposition, although the verb+preposition combination itself MAY be considered a transitive syntactic unit (e.g. laugh at , having passive form 'be laughed at'). However, only conventions of usage rather than any simple, universal rule determine whether such passivizations are possible, and so you need to get case-by-case guidance from a good learner's dictionary.
The lexical verbs themselves are not automatically considered transitive simply because they are followed by a preposition, although the verb+preposition combination itself MAY be considered a transitive syntactic unit (e.g. laugh at , having passive form 'be laughed at'). However, only conventions of usage rather than any simple, universal rule determine whether such passivizations are possible, and so you need to get case-by-case guidance from a good learner's dictionary.