Re: just curious.. ;)

David Peterson wrote:
>     One of the functions might be the so-called "middle voice", which I
>disagree with whole-heartedly--I think it's just a glorified passive with
>no
>agent.  Nevertheless, it's in phrases like "The stew cooks nicely" ("up" is
>often added after the verb), "It eats like a meal", "It smells good"
>(??!?!?).
Odd - I'd never thought of "smells" in sentences like "It smells good" as
anything but a plain, boring, active verb. Why would one characterize it as
middle or passive voice?

                                                 Andreas


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