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What is the difference between passive voice and compound nominal predicate?

You're touching on two distinct grammatical concepts that can sometimes be confused. Let's break them down:

1. Passive Voice:

* Focus: The passive voice emphasizes the action received by the subject rather than the performer of the action.

* Structure: It uses the past participle of the verb (e.g., "was eaten," "is written," "will be played") with a form of the verb "to be."

* Example: "The ball was hit by the batter." (Focus is on the ball being hit, not the batter hitting it.)

2. Compound Nominal Predicate:

* Focus: This is a grammatical structure within a sentence that involves two or more words describing the subject.

* Structure: It typically consists of a linking verb (e.g., "is," "are," "seems," "becomes") followed by two or more nouns, pronouns, adjectives, or noun phrases that refer to the subject.

* Example: "My favorite color is blue and green. " (Both "blue" and "green" describe the subject "color.")

Key Differences:

* Purpose: Passive voice shifts focus from the actor to the recipient of the action. Compound nominal predicates provide a more comprehensive description of the subject.

* Structure: Passive voice requires a specific verb structure (past participle + "be"). Compound nominal predicates use linking verbs and can have various combinations of noun phrases, adjectives, etc.

* Emphasis: Passive voice de-emphasizes the actor. Compound nominal predicates emphasize the characteristics or qualities of the subject.

Example:

* Passive Voice: "The house was painted by the contractor."

* Compound Nominal Predicate: "The house is beautiful and spacious."

In Conclusion:

Passive voice is a way of structuring a sentence to emphasize the receiver of the action. Compound nominal predicates are a type of sentence structure used to describe the subject using multiple words or phrases.

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