http://www.englishforums.com/search/pro.htm?q=tag%3aPassive+sentences+tag%3aRegardsSearch results for 'tag:Passive sentences tag:Regards' matching tags 'Passive sentences' and 'Regards'en-USCSMOD (Build: 3260.39585)http://www.englishforums.com/English/DifferenceSimilaritySyntactic-Relation/wwnj/post.htm#41846Thu, 12 Aug 2004 07:08:51 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:41846miriamHello, Lupa <img src="/emoticons/emotion-1.gif" alt="Smile [:)]" /> <br /> <br />You are right about the first two pairs of sentences. Sentences "b" in both pairs have ergative verbs. <br />You posted that "dinner is cooking" is a passive sentence. The sentence has passive meaning (because dinner cannot be cooking itself) but it is not a passive construction. The same applies to "the door opened". <br /> <br />What you said about the third pair is also true. There is a difference between both sentences, though: 3.b. doesn't have a direct object. Even though "eating too much" and "overeating" seem to be identical in meaning, "overeat" is an intransitive verb while "eat" can be used transitively or intransitively. <br /> <br />Pair #4 is correct. <br /> <br />Pair#5: in the first sentence, "talk" is used intransitively; in the second, transitively. <br /> <br />Regards, <br /> <br />Miriam <br /> <br />