Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

Examples of passives, pseudo-passives, and related constructions

example

comments

He 

was killed in the war.

central be-passive

They 

got arrested.

central get-passive

He 

got himself promoted to manager.

reflexive get-passive (recipient more actively

involved)

We 

had some trees taken down.

have-

pseudo-passive (causative: beneficiary of

the action initiated the action)

They 

had their garden furniture stolen last year. have-pseudo-passive (non-causative: beneficiary

of the action did not initiate the action)

I 

got my car serviced in that garage once.

get-

pseudo-passive (causative: beneficiary of the

action initiated the action)

I’ll 

get you set up on the computer and then 

get-

pseudo-passive (describes a process initiated

you can work away on your own.

by someone who may or may not be the agent)

I

’m quite fascinated by what you say.

semi-passive (like passive but also like adjectival

construction: may be modified like an adjective)

He

’s totally obsessed with astrology.

more adjectival; prepositional complement has

no active agent role

The tape seems to have 

got stuck.

resultative; describes a state resulting from an

agentless process

The handle

’s broken.

adjectival; describes a state

794 | The passive

Cambridge Grammar of English

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