Difference between revisions of "Impersonal (definition)"
From Scottish Gaelic Grammar Wiki
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An 'impersonal' is a [[Voice (definition)|voice]] that expresses a situation where there is no specified agent semantic/thematic role. They are roughly equivalent to the [[Passive (definition)|passives]] of [[Intransitive (definition)|Intransitive]] verbs, although passives have the additional property that they highlight the theme/object. This latter property is not true of impersonals. Impersonals are not typically found in English, but a similar meaning can be expressed with sentences such as "There was dancing". In Gaelic there is a special verb form used for expressing the impersonal (sometimes inaccurately called the passive). | An 'impersonal' is a [[Voice (definition)|voice]] that expresses a situation where there is no specified agent semantic/thematic role. They are roughly equivalent to the [[Passive (definition)|passives]] of [[Intransitive (definition)|Intransitive]] verbs, although passives have the additional property that they highlight the theme/object. This latter property is not true of impersonals. Impersonals are not typically found in English, but a similar meaning can be expressed with sentences such as "There was dancing". In Gaelic there is a special verb form used for expressing the impersonal (sometimes inaccurately called the passive). | ||
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*[[Thematic Relation (definition)]] | *[[Thematic Relation (definition)]] | ||
*[[Voice (definition)]] | *[[Voice (definition)]] | ||
| − | *[[Active (definition)]] | + | *[[Active Voice (definition)]] |
*[[Passive (definition)]] | *[[Passive (definition)]] | ||
Revision as of 22:07, 13 November 2009
An 'impersonal' is a voice that expresses a situation where there is no specified agent semantic/thematic role. They are roughly equivalent to the passives of Intransitive verbs, although passives have the additional property that they highlight the theme/object. This latter property is not true of impersonals. Impersonals are not typically found in English, but a similar meaning can be expressed with sentences such as "There was dancing". In Gaelic there is a special verb form used for expressing the impersonal (sometimes inaccurately called the passive).
