As seen in sentences and, it has been observed that learners passivize verbs that ought to be in active voice.
Not only do they use both short and long forms available in the language, they passivize experiential verbs as well as the prototypical action verbs.
As seen in sentences (1) and (2), it has been observed that learners passivize verbs that ought to be in active voice.
Since the lack of a logical subject is exactly what defines unaccusatives as a class, it follows that they should never passivize.
Since the passive of any intransitive verb will be subjectless, and hence unacceptable, no intransitive verb may passivize.
Learners appear to perceive an agent or a direct cause in externally caused speech events, and they seem to feel more willing to passivize unaccusatives in such contexts.
If the event is perceived as occurring spontaneously without an agent, as the findings of this study show, learners will be less inclined to passivize unaccusatives.
Finally, the reflexive cannot passivize.
