http://www.englishforums.com/English/EslGeneralEnglishGrammar-Questions/Forum12.htmAsk your questions on grammar and get your sentence checked. We answer lots of different types of general English grammar questions here. <font color=red>DO NOT post paragraphs and compositions here. Post them in our <a href="http://www.englishforums.com/English/EssayReportCompositionWriting/Forum9.htm"><b>Essay, Report and Composition Writing Forum</b></a>.</font>enXMOD (Build: 3616.28671)http://www.englishforums.com/English/ActivePassiveFormStart/qwzv/post.htm#81041Sun, 26 Apr 2009 10:05:11 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:81041souroin0http://www.englishforums.com/English/ActivePassiveFormStart/qwzv/post.htm#81041http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-81041.xmlHello CalifJim, Il mio maestro grande!! Thank you for your explanation. I always admire your reply in concise and clear way. I am afraid but I think I already understood transive and intransive, BUT the way you showed me is absolutely unforgettable and I can keep it strongly in mind not to make this kind of primitive mistake. There's still a long way to master your language... Preposition is very confusing and difficult. "Start 'on' the date" is the correct way. The second point, you explained exactly what I couldn't really put in words. It's a matter of the viewpoint at which a write is describing a situation. Different emphasis is given: 'Something is started' implies a presence of a cause other than 'something' to set off...http://www.englishforums.com/English/ActivePassiveFormStart/qwzv/post.htm#81016Tue, 26 May 2009 10:05:11 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:81016CalifJim1http://www.englishforums.com/English/ActivePassiveFormStart/qwzv/post.htm#81016http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-81016.xmlSouroin, Only sentences with transitive verbs can be made passive. In the transitive sense you can say, "The driver started the motor" or "The motor was started by the driver", and similar expressions. However, while you can say, "All the students started to talk at once", you can't twist that into "*To talk at once was started by all the students"! In the case of your sentence, let me modify it a little to make it more idiomatic. On March 13, 2005, the Safety Review Committee started to address issues surrounding the use of xxx. This cannot be rewritten as the "passive" sentence, *On March 13, 2005, to address issues surrounding the use of xxx was started by the Saftety Review Committee. because "to address ..." is...http://www.englishforums.com/English/ActivePassiveFormStart/qwzv/post.htmSun, 26 Apr 2009 10:05:11 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:81009souroin2http://www.englishforums.com/English/ActivePassiveFormStart/qwzv/post.htmhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-81009.xmlHello everyone, - preface - I tried the archives but there are so many posts, so I couldn't go through those, unwillingly ignoring the rule here - sorry about this. Anyway, this is very very fundamental but I can't find any straightforward answer from dictionaries I have. I would appreciate helps from anybody who have very plain and pinpointing answer for my question. - question - Verb 'start' is intransitive, then I can say something like: Safety Review Committee started from March 13, 2005 to address issues surrounding use of xxx. But perhaps it might sound bit awkward in passive tense of this sentence - committee was started from... For the followings, now both sounds ok, at least to me (in a clinical study): Drug...