Aktiv statt Passiv

When do weNOT form passive sentences?

WeDO NOT form passive sentences with …

1. …intransitive verbs (verbs which do not have a direct object), for example:

This means you can only form an active construction like:He walks.

But you cannot use a passive construction as 'to walk' is not done to someone or something.

2. ... state verbs (verbs which describe how things are), for example:

thoughts and opinions	to agree, to believe, to doubt, to guess, to imagine, to know, to mean, to recognise, to remember, to suspect, to think, to understand
feelings and emotions	to dislike, to hate, to like, to love, to prefer, to want, to wish
senses and perceptions	to be, to appear, to feel, to hear, to see, to taste, to smell, to sound, to seam

3. … the verb 'to be' + born

The verb 'to be' + born is always in the past.

This means you can only form a passive construction like:She was born in 1999.

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