Reference > Usage > The Columbia Guide to Standard American English
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Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–).  The Columbia Guide to Standard American English.  1993.
 
NOTIONAL PASSIVE
 
 
is a name sometimes applied to structures wherein a verb in active voice works semantically to achieve a passive effect, as in This shirt washes well, which is notionally the same as the passive This shirt can be washed well.  1
 
 
The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press.

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