Poll: An intransitive verb cannot be used in the passive voice.

jill

False. Example:

The sentence was not easily parsed.

Henry

I don't understand Jill's example. After all, parse is a transitive verb.

sameer

Jill's example is wrong,because parse is a transitive verb, and the sentence was parsed by somebody

chainsaw

True. Intransitive verbs
by definition don't have
direct objects. Passive
voice requires that the object of a verb function as the subject of a sentence.

srikantbiswal

Yes,

This is correct. Since it does not have a direct object, intransitive verb can not be used in passive voice.

Sunil

In some languages intransitive verbs can be used in passive voice. There are two kinds of passive voices. I do not know the terminology in English but in Sanskrit, they are knows as KarmVachya, where the obect has precednce, and BhavaVachya passive use of intransitive verbs such as "to sleep".

JJ

False, even in English. It would be more precise to say intransitive verbs resist passive form. For example:

sneeze is an intransitive verb.

Example sentence:

"Someone sneezed on her."

Passive:

"She was sneezed on (by someone)."

It is impossible, however, to make an intransitive verb in English passive without using a prepositional phrase.

Example sentence:

"Someone sneezed."

Passive:

???

Makarand

"I am sleeping" cannot be converted in passive voice because sleep is intransitive verb.Similarly work, smile are the verbs which are not great when used in passive form.Work is both tr and intr verb though

Patrick Schulz

false. In German, for example, you can build a passive w# an intransitive by using expletive 'es':

Active: Die Zuschauer klatschen.
the spectators clap
Passive: Es wird geklatscht.
it was clapped.

I'm no english native, so i dunno whether this also holds for English.

Dgr

In the example, (She was sneezed on by someone.), 'to sneeze' on is a transitive phrasal verb. This does not contradict the rule that only transitive verbs can be used in a grammatically correct passive sentence.

jen

Die is an intransitive verb.

Passive tone: He dies by lethal injection.

blahblahblah

nope, not passive. just a normal sentence. compare: 'he travels by train'.