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Can someone please explain grammatically why this sentence is in the passive voice Οι νυχτερίδες κρέμονται από ένα κλαδί τρώγοντας καρπούζι |
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Because the active form of verb "κρεμώ" is used when you are talking about some person who is hanging some object. κρεμάει τα ρούχα της - she's hanging her clothes. But if you are describing an object which is hanging you must you the passive voice: τα ρούχα κρεμιέται - clothes are hanging. In your sentence bats aren't hanging anything but they are just hanging themselves, thus the passive voice should be used. Actually greek language is very logical in this particular case while english is not. For me it would be natural to say "clothes are hung" not "clothes hang". |
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The verb κρέμονται (from the somewhat literary intransitive verb κρέμομαι, I hang, suspend) is actually an example of middle voice, since the subject (Οι νυχτερίδες) is doing the intransitive action by itself, for itself: Οι νυχτερίδες κρέμονται από ένα κλαδί τρώγοντας καρπούζι. = The bats hang (-or- are hanging) from a branch eating watermelon. In this respect, κρέμομαι is very much like other intransitive middle voice verbs such as έρχομαι, I come (L44), εργάζομαι, I work (L44), and βιάζομαι, I hurry (L57). For more about the topic of middle voice, take a look at the newly-expanded posting "FYI: middle voice" in Discussion Forum 96. Regards, Greg Brush |
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The first part of the sentence makes perfect sense to what you are saying ..the bats are hanging (themselves) but what about the second clauses of the sentence , the bats are eating something (melon) so why is that verb passive τρώγοντας |
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τρώγοντας, "eating", is not a passive verbform, it is the invariable demotic present active participle of the verb τρώγω (L35) / τρώω (L37), I eat: Οι νυχτερίδες κρέμονται από ένα κλαδί τρώγοντας καρπούζι. = The bats hang (-or- are hanging) from a branch [in the ongoing act of] eating watermelon. In the Modern language, these present active participles function as an additional adverbial clause of manner describing the action of the main verb. In this instance the participial phrase τρώγωντας καρπούζι answers the question "In what manner do they hang?" Answer: eating watermelon while they hang. See my reply to "Δώσε τους νερό." in Discussion Forum 52 which includes an example of a demotic present active participle, and "FYI: άκουγα (past continuous of ακούω)" in Discussion Forum 73 for a specific mention of the present active participle τρώγοντας. Regards, Greg Brush [originally posted Thursday, 4 September 2014, 11:37 PM] |
