Difference between revisions of "Impersonal (definition)"

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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).  
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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 Voice (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).  
  
 
==See Also==
 
==See Also==
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*[[Voice (definition)]]
 
*[[Voice (definition)]]
 
*[[Active Voice (definition)]]
 
*[[Active Voice (definition)]]
*[[Passive (definition)]]
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*[[Passive Voice (definition)]]
  
 
==External Links==
 
==External Links==

Revision as of 23:08, 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).

See Also

External Links

References