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Changing the Relations of the Verb

English has several devices for changing the relations of a verb, including the neutral, the passive and the applicative.

The neutral

The neutral (or neuter) turns a transitive verb into an intransitive verb. The subject of the transitive is removed, and the object of the transitive becomes the subject of the intransitive. The form of the verb itself does not change. The neutral can be used only with certain transitive verbs such as cook, change, sit, stand, break, darken, warm up, drop, grow and fill, and not with others such as kill, help, like, eat and see.

English is changing, and more verbs are coming to be used in the neutral. Lay was once strictly transitive and lie was used for the intransitive equivalent, but today almost everyone uses the neutral 'lay' instead and 'lie' is disappearing. Many English dictionaries list which verbs can have these neutral instransitive forms with a note such as vt & vi (for 'verb transitive and verb intransitive').

The passive

Like the neutral, the passive also removes the subject of a transitive verb and makes the object into a subject. There are two important differences between the neutral and the passive:

1. The passive can be used with any transitive verb.
2. The former subject may be brought back as a peripheral relation with by.

The passive is formed by making the main verb a passive participle, and adding be or get as an auxiliary verb.

Transitive verb Neutral Passive with be Passive with get
I am cooking the chicken. The chicken is cooking. The chicken is being cooked (by me). The chicken is getting cooked (by me).
I broke the window. The window broke. The window was broken (by me). The window got broken (by me).
The cat will eat the mouse. No neutral. The mouse will be eaten (by the cat). The mouse will get eaten (by the cat).

See:
How the passive is used in a sentence.
The passive participle.

The applicative

The applicative adds another object (the applicative object) to a verb which already has an object (the direct object). The applicative may not be used with a verb that does not have a direct object: so I have cooked breakfast can take an applicative but I have cooked cannot.

The applicative take changes a phrase phrase in to or for into an applicative object, which comes immediately after the verb, before the direct object.

No applicative Applicative
Subject verb direct object prepositonal phrase subject verb applicative object direct object
I will throw the ball to you. I will throw you the ball.
I cooked breakfast for Peter. I cooked Peter breakfast.

With no direct object, the applicative is not possible: we may say I cooked for Peter but we may not convert it to I cooked Peter (except for some verbs of communication: see below).

The applicative works only with to and for, not with other prepositions. Note the difference between to and at:

No applicative Applicative Meaning
I threw the ball to Eric. I threw Eric the ball. I meant Eric to catch the ball.
I threw the ball at Eric. No applicative is possible. I meant the ball to hit Eric.

See also:
Applicatives with verbs of communication.
Applicatives with passives.

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