What is the passive voice of “She quits her teaching job in school”?
What will be the passive voice for "She quits her teaching job in school"? I have come up with "The teaching job in school is quit by her," but somehow it's not sounding correct. Is it fine?
grammar passive-voice
edited May 5 '17 at 4:04
sumelic
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asked Jun 20 '12 at 17:23
Monojit
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What will be the passive voice for "She quits her teaching job in school"? I have come up with "The teaching job in school is quit by her," but somehow it's not sounding correct. Is it fine?
grammar passive-voice
edited May 5 '17 at 4:04
sumelic
45.8k8108211
asked Jun 20 '12 at 17:23
Monojit
263
Quit is a verb that English speakers do not put in passive voice. This might be because it would be confused with the adjective quit (of), which is usually used in phrases such as "I am quit of that trouble", meaning that I no longer have that trouble.
– Peter Shor
Jun 21 '12 at 13:55
add a comment |
What will be the passive voice for "She quits her teaching job in school"? I have come up with "The teaching job in school is quit by her," but somehow it's not sounding correct. Is it fine?
grammar passive-voice
edited May 5 '17 at 4:04
sumelic
45.8k8108211
asked Jun 20 '12 at 17:23
Monojit
263
What will be the passive voice for "She quits her teaching job in school"? I have come up with "The teaching job in school is quit by her," but somehow it's not sounding correct. Is it fine?
grammar passive-voice
grammar passive-voice
edited May 5 '17 at 4:04
sumelic
45.8k8108211
asked Jun 20 '12 at 17:23
Monojit
263
edited May 5 '17 at 4:04
sumelic
45.8k8108211
asked Jun 20 '12 at 17:23
Monojit
263
edited May 5 '17 at 4:04
sumelic
45.8k8108211
edited May 5 '17 at 4:04
sumelic
45.8k8108211
edited May 5 '17 at 4:04
sumelic
45.8k8108211
45.8k8108211
asked Jun 20 '12 at 17:23
Monojit
263
asked Jun 20 '12 at 17:23
Monojit
263
asked Jun 20 '12 at 17:23
Monojit
263
263
Quit is a verb that English speakers do not put in passive voice. This might be because it would be confused with the adjective quit (of), which is usually used in phrases such as "I am quit of that trouble", meaning that I no longer have that trouble.
– Peter Shor
Jun 21 '12 at 13:55
add a comment |
Quit is a verb that English speakers do not put in passive voice. This might be because it would be confused with the adjective quit (of), which is usually used in phrases such as "I am quit of that trouble", meaning that I no longer have that trouble.
– Peter Shor
Jun 21 '12 at 13:55
Quit is a verb that English speakers do not put in passive voice. This might be because it would be confused with the adjective quit (of), which is usually used in phrases such as "I am quit of that trouble", meaning that I no longer have that trouble.
– Peter Shor
Jun 21 '12 at 13:55
Quit is a verb that English speakers do not put in passive voice. This might be because it would be confused with the adjective quit (of), which is usually used in phrases such as "I am quit of that trouble", meaning that I no longer have that trouble.
– Peter Shor
Jun 21 '12 at 13:55
add a comment |
4 Answers
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Quit is not really transitive with the noun job; it's too intimately linked with its object, and that object is usually an Object Complement clause, because the normal meaning is to stop performing some activity permanently, or at least for some time. (There are also Subject Complements, but not in this example.)
- He quit smoking.
There is also an economic idiom to quit which means to stop working at one's employment, permanently and voluntarily (as opposed, for instance, to being fired, which is permanent and involuntary, or being laid off, which is temporary and involuntary); the only direct object one can quit in this idiomatic sense is one's job, and so the object is frequently not expressed.
Thus it isn't really a transitive sentence because the verb and its object express an intransitive predicate -- like the idiom kick the bucket, meaning 'to die' -- and therefore can't be passivized.
Harry kicked the bucket yesterday. ~ *The bucket was kicked by Harry yesterday.
Harry quit his job yesterday. ~ *Harry's job was quit by him yesterday.
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:18
John Lawler
84k6116328
@John Lawler now I got another confusion."He quit smoking" and "He quits smoking" -both are fine?Why we are not adding 's' as 3rd person singular rule?
– Monojit
Jun 21 '12 at 14:52
1
@Monojit Because 3SgPres {-Z} is Present tense. The principal parts of quit are quit, quit, quit. Thus "He quit smoking" is Past tense; you can only tell the difference in 3Sg. "I quit smoking" and "They quit smoking" could be either present or past, because they're not inflected for person or number, and the tense inflection is Zero in the case of quit, hit, shit, bid, and some other D/T-final monosyllables.
– John Lawler
Jun 21 '12 at 16:12
add a comment |
In my opinion, "quit" by definition is an active verb; I would switch to something like "The teaching job was vacated." or "The teaching job was abandoned."
One would use the passive voice in this instance, I'd imagine, if you want to put the focus on the job, as opposed to the person who quit the job.
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:05
bryanjonker
1815
Well, the OED3 does attest several instances of to be quit(ted) in a passive construction, but most of these are obsolete or apply to a different sense than the one under discussion here.
– tchrist♦
Jun 21 '12 at 13:18
add a comment |
One way I remember how to use and recognize passive voice is that it often has the effect of "hiding the source". I find it most useful when avoiding blame/credit. Consider:
(passive) "Your lamp was broken." versus (active) "I broke your lamp."
(passive) "My code was fixed afterwards." versus (active) "Someone else fixed my code afterwards".
In the case of quitting a job, only the person doing the job can quit it and trying to use passive voice here would sound awkward in my opinion if you tried.
answered 17 hours ago
Avery
312
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Sounds quite right for passive voice to me. "She" is the subject in the sentence in active voice and "she" is taking the action of quitting the job.
"The teaching job in school" is the subject in the passive voice which is the recipient of the action (of quitting).
It sounds awkward though, the reason its advised to avoid using passive voice in writing (some time it is more correct to use the passive voice but that's rare).
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:05
Fr0zenFyr
2,13021221
add a comment |
protected by RegDwigнt♦ Jun 21 '12 at 21:01
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4 Answers
4
active
oldest
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4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Quit is not really transitive with the noun job; it's too intimately linked with its object, and that object is usually an Object Complement clause, because the normal meaning is to stop performing some activity permanently, or at least for some time. (There are also Subject Complements, but not in this example.)
- He quit smoking.
There is also an economic idiom to quit which means to stop working at one's employment, permanently and voluntarily (as opposed, for instance, to being fired, which is permanent and involuntary, or being laid off, which is temporary and involuntary); the only direct object one can quit in this idiomatic sense is one's job, and so the object is frequently not expressed.
Thus it isn't really a transitive sentence because the verb and its object express an intransitive predicate -- like the idiom kick the bucket, meaning 'to die' -- and therefore can't be passivized.
Harry kicked the bucket yesterday. ~ *The bucket was kicked by Harry yesterday.
Harry quit his job yesterday. ~ *Harry's job was quit by him yesterday.
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:18
John Lawler
84k6116328
@John Lawler now I got another confusion."He quit smoking" and "He quits smoking" -both are fine?Why we are not adding 's' as 3rd person singular rule?
– Monojit
Jun 21 '12 at 14:52
1
@Monojit Because 3SgPres {-Z} is Present tense. The principal parts of quit are quit, quit, quit. Thus "He quit smoking" is Past tense; you can only tell the difference in 3Sg. "I quit smoking" and "They quit smoking" could be either present or past, because they're not inflected for person or number, and the tense inflection is Zero in the case of quit, hit, shit, bid, and some other D/T-final monosyllables.
– John Lawler
Jun 21 '12 at 16:12
add a comment |
Quit is not really transitive with the noun job; it's too intimately linked with its object, and that object is usually an Object Complement clause, because the normal meaning is to stop performing some activity permanently, or at least for some time. (There are also Subject Complements, but not in this example.)
- He quit smoking.
There is also an economic idiom to quit which means to stop working at one's employment, permanently and voluntarily (as opposed, for instance, to being fired, which is permanent and involuntary, or being laid off, which is temporary and involuntary); the only direct object one can quit in this idiomatic sense is one's job, and so the object is frequently not expressed.
Thus it isn't really a transitive sentence because the verb and its object express an intransitive predicate -- like the idiom kick the bucket, meaning 'to die' -- and therefore can't be passivized.
Harry kicked the bucket yesterday. ~ *The bucket was kicked by Harry yesterday.
Harry quit his job yesterday. ~ *Harry's job was quit by him yesterday.
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:18
John Lawler
84k6116328
@John Lawler now I got another confusion."He quit smoking" and "He quits smoking" -both are fine?Why we are not adding 's' as 3rd person singular rule?
– Monojit
Jun 21 '12 at 14:52
1
@Monojit Because 3SgPres {-Z} is Present tense. The principal parts of quit are quit, quit, quit. Thus "He quit smoking" is Past tense; you can only tell the difference in 3Sg. "I quit smoking" and "They quit smoking" could be either present or past, because they're not inflected for person or number, and the tense inflection is Zero in the case of quit, hit, shit, bid, and some other D/T-final monosyllables.
– John Lawler
Jun 21 '12 at 16:12
add a comment |
Quit is not really transitive with the noun job; it's too intimately linked with its object, and that object is usually an Object Complement clause, because the normal meaning is to stop performing some activity permanently, or at least for some time. (There are also Subject Complements, but not in this example.)
- He quit smoking.
There is also an economic idiom to quit which means to stop working at one's employment, permanently and voluntarily (as opposed, for instance, to being fired, which is permanent and involuntary, or being laid off, which is temporary and involuntary); the only direct object one can quit in this idiomatic sense is one's job, and so the object is frequently not expressed.
Thus it isn't really a transitive sentence because the verb and its object express an intransitive predicate -- like the idiom kick the bucket, meaning 'to die' -- and therefore can't be passivized.
Harry kicked the bucket yesterday. ~ *The bucket was kicked by Harry yesterday.
Harry quit his job yesterday. ~ *Harry's job was quit by him yesterday.
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:18
John Lawler
84k6116328
Quit is not really transitive with the noun job; it's too intimately linked with its object, and that object is usually an Object Complement clause, because the normal meaning is to stop performing some activity permanently, or at least for some time. (There are also Subject Complements, but not in this example.)
- He quit smoking.
There is also an economic idiom to quit which means to stop working at one's employment, permanently and voluntarily (as opposed, for instance, to being fired, which is permanent and involuntary, or being laid off, which is temporary and involuntary); the only direct object one can quit in this idiomatic sense is one's job, and so the object is frequently not expressed.
Thus it isn't really a transitive sentence because the verb and its object express an intransitive predicate -- like the idiom kick the bucket, meaning 'to die' -- and therefore can't be passivized.
Harry kicked the bucket yesterday. ~ *The bucket was kicked by Harry yesterday.
Harry quit his job yesterday. ~ *Harry's job was quit by him yesterday.
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:18
John Lawler
84k6116328
edited Jun 21 '12 at 13:39
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:18
John Lawler
84k6116328
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:18
John Lawler
84k6116328
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:18
John Lawler
84k6116328
84k6116328
@John Lawler now I got another confusion."He quit smoking" and "He quits smoking" -both are fine?Why we are not adding 's' as 3rd person singular rule?
– Monojit
Jun 21 '12 at 14:52
1
@Monojit Because 3SgPres {-Z} is Present tense. The principal parts of quit are quit, quit, quit. Thus "He quit smoking" is Past tense; you can only tell the difference in 3Sg. "I quit smoking" and "They quit smoking" could be either present or past, because they're not inflected for person or number, and the tense inflection is Zero in the case of quit, hit, shit, bid, and some other D/T-final monosyllables.
– John Lawler
Jun 21 '12 at 16:12
add a comment |
@John Lawler now I got another confusion."He quit smoking" and "He quits smoking" -both are fine?Why we are not adding 's' as 3rd person singular rule?
– Monojit
Jun 21 '12 at 14:52
1
@Monojit Because 3SgPres {-Z} is Present tense. The principal parts of quit are quit, quit, quit. Thus "He quit smoking" is Past tense; you can only tell the difference in 3Sg. "I quit smoking" and "They quit smoking" could be either present or past, because they're not inflected for person or number, and the tense inflection is Zero in the case of quit, hit, shit, bid, and some other D/T-final monosyllables.
– John Lawler
Jun 21 '12 at 16:12
@John Lawler now I got another confusion."He quit smoking" and "He quits smoking" -both are fine?Why we are not adding 's' as 3rd person singular rule?
– Monojit
Jun 21 '12 at 14:52
@John Lawler now I got another confusion."He quit smoking" and "He quits smoking" -both are fine?Why we are not adding 's' as 3rd person singular rule?
– Monojit
Jun 21 '12 at 14:52
1
1
@Monojit Because 3SgPres {-Z} is Present tense. The principal parts of quit are quit, quit, quit. Thus "He quit smoking" is Past tense; you can only tell the difference in 3Sg. "I quit smoking" and "They quit smoking" could be either present or past, because they're not inflected for person or number, and the tense inflection is Zero in the case of quit, hit, shit, bid, and some other D/T-final monosyllables.
– John Lawler
Jun 21 '12 at 16:12
@Monojit Because 3SgPres {-Z} is Present tense. The principal parts of quit are quit, quit, quit. Thus "He quit smoking" is Past tense; you can only tell the difference in 3Sg. "I quit smoking" and "They quit smoking" could be either present or past, because they're not inflected for person or number, and the tense inflection is Zero in the case of quit, hit, shit, bid, and some other D/T-final monosyllables.
– John Lawler
Jun 21 '12 at 16:12
add a comment |
In my opinion, "quit" by definition is an active verb; I would switch to something like "The teaching job was vacated." or "The teaching job was abandoned."
One would use the passive voice in this instance, I'd imagine, if you want to put the focus on the job, as opposed to the person who quit the job.
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:05
bryanjonker
1815
Well, the OED3 does attest several instances of to be quit(ted) in a passive construction, but most of these are obsolete or apply to a different sense than the one under discussion here.
– tchrist♦
Jun 21 '12 at 13:18
add a comment |
In my opinion, "quit" by definition is an active verb; I would switch to something like "The teaching job was vacated." or "The teaching job was abandoned."
One would use the passive voice in this instance, I'd imagine, if you want to put the focus on the job, as opposed to the person who quit the job.
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:05
bryanjonker
1815
Well, the OED3 does attest several instances of to be quit(ted) in a passive construction, but most of these are obsolete or apply to a different sense than the one under discussion here.
– tchrist♦
Jun 21 '12 at 13:18
add a comment |
In my opinion, "quit" by definition is an active verb; I would switch to something like "The teaching job was vacated." or "The teaching job was abandoned."
One would use the passive voice in this instance, I'd imagine, if you want to put the focus on the job, as opposed to the person who quit the job.
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:05
bryanjonker
1815
In my opinion, "quit" by definition is an active verb; I would switch to something like "The teaching job was vacated." or "The teaching job was abandoned."
One would use the passive voice in this instance, I'd imagine, if you want to put the focus on the job, as opposed to the person who quit the job.
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:05
bryanjonker
1815
edited Jun 21 '12 at 12:53
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:05
bryanjonker
1815
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:05
bryanjonker
1815
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:05
bryanjonker
1815
1815
Well, the OED3 does attest several instances of to be quit(ted) in a passive construction, but most of these are obsolete or apply to a different sense than the one under discussion here.
– tchrist♦
Jun 21 '12 at 13:18
add a comment |
Well, the OED3 does attest several instances of to be quit(ted) in a passive construction, but most of these are obsolete or apply to a different sense than the one under discussion here.
– tchrist♦
Jun 21 '12 at 13:18
Well, the OED3 does attest several instances of to be quit(ted) in a passive construction, but most of these are obsolete or apply to a different sense than the one under discussion here.
– tchrist♦
Jun 21 '12 at 13:18
Well, the OED3 does attest several instances of to be quit(ted) in a passive construction, but most of these are obsolete or apply to a different sense than the one under discussion here.
– tchrist♦
Jun 21 '12 at 13:18
add a comment |
One way I remember how to use and recognize passive voice is that it often has the effect of "hiding the source". I find it most useful when avoiding blame/credit. Consider:
(passive) "Your lamp was broken." versus (active) "I broke your lamp."
(passive) "My code was fixed afterwards." versus (active) "Someone else fixed my code afterwards".
In the case of quitting a job, only the person doing the job can quit it and trying to use passive voice here would sound awkward in my opinion if you tried.
answered 17 hours ago
Avery
312
New contributor
Avery is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
One way I remember how to use and recognize passive voice is that it often has the effect of "hiding the source". I find it most useful when avoiding blame/credit. Consider:
(passive) "Your lamp was broken." versus (active) "I broke your lamp."
(passive) "My code was fixed afterwards." versus (active) "Someone else fixed my code afterwards".
In the case of quitting a job, only the person doing the job can quit it and trying to use passive voice here would sound awkward in my opinion if you tried.
answered 17 hours ago
Avery
312
New contributor
Avery is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
One way I remember how to use and recognize passive voice is that it often has the effect of "hiding the source". I find it most useful when avoiding blame/credit. Consider:
(passive) "Your lamp was broken." versus (active) "I broke your lamp."
(passive) "My code was fixed afterwards." versus (active) "Someone else fixed my code afterwards".
In the case of quitting a job, only the person doing the job can quit it and trying to use passive voice here would sound awkward in my opinion if you tried.
answered 17 hours ago
Avery
312
New contributor
Avery is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
One way I remember how to use and recognize passive voice is that it often has the effect of "hiding the source". I find it most useful when avoiding blame/credit. Consider:
(passive) "Your lamp was broken." versus (active) "I broke your lamp."
(passive) "My code was fixed afterwards." versus (active) "Someone else fixed my code afterwards".
In the case of quitting a job, only the person doing the job can quit it and trying to use passive voice here would sound awkward in my opinion if you tried.
answered 17 hours ago
Avery
312
New contributor
Avery is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 17 hours ago
Avery
312
New contributor
Avery is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 17 hours ago
Avery
312
answered 17 hours ago
Avery
312
312
New contributor
Avery is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Avery is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Avery is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
add a comment |
Sounds quite right for passive voice to me. "She" is the subject in the sentence in active voice and "she" is taking the action of quitting the job.
"The teaching job in school" is the subject in the passive voice which is the recipient of the action (of quitting).
It sounds awkward though, the reason its advised to avoid using passive voice in writing (some time it is more correct to use the passive voice but that's rare).
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:05
Fr0zenFyr
2,13021221
add a comment |
Sounds quite right for passive voice to me. "She" is the subject in the sentence in active voice and "she" is taking the action of quitting the job.
"The teaching job in school" is the subject in the passive voice which is the recipient of the action (of quitting).
It sounds awkward though, the reason its advised to avoid using passive voice in writing (some time it is more correct to use the passive voice but that's rare).
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:05
Fr0zenFyr
2,13021221
add a comment |
Sounds quite right for passive voice to me. "She" is the subject in the sentence in active voice and "she" is taking the action of quitting the job.
"The teaching job in school" is the subject in the passive voice which is the recipient of the action (of quitting).
It sounds awkward though, the reason its advised to avoid using passive voice in writing (some time it is more correct to use the passive voice but that's rare).
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:05
Fr0zenFyr
2,13021221
Sounds quite right for passive voice to me. "She" is the subject in the sentence in active voice and "she" is taking the action of quitting the job.
"The teaching job in school" is the subject in the passive voice which is the recipient of the action (of quitting).
It sounds awkward though, the reason its advised to avoid using passive voice in writing (some time it is more correct to use the passive voice but that's rare).
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:05
Fr0zenFyr
2,13021221
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:05
Fr0zenFyr
2,13021221
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:05
Fr0zenFyr
2,13021221
answered Jun 20 '12 at 18:05
Fr0zenFyr
2,13021221
2,13021221
add a comment |
add a comment |
protected by RegDwigнt♦ Jun 21 '12 at 21:01
Thank you for your interest in this question.
Because it has attracted low-quality or spam answers that had to be removed, posting an answer now requires 10 reputation on this site (the association bonus does not count).
Would you like to answer one of these unanswered questions instead?
Quit is a verb that English speakers do not put in passive voice. This might be because it would be confused with the adjective quit (of), which is usually used in phrases such as "I am quit of that trouble", meaning that I no longer have that trouble.
– Peter Shor
Jun 21 '12 at 13:55