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17:01
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A: What is the difference in the meaning of these sentences?

DavoThe difference is between the active and passive voice. A door closes. This is active. The door is the subject, and does the action: it closes. A door is closed. This is passive. The door is the object of the action: it is closed (by someone or something). In this case, both are desc...

Davo
Davo
Agreed, it is not idiomatic; but it is grammatically correct, and might be said by a prankster, along the lines of I kid sometimes.
user178049
user178049
I don't claim to be an expert, but consfused looks like an adjective to me. So the it's in the active voice.
Davo
Davo
1. Dictionaries are bad sources for determining words' parts of speech; and 2. Provided "Joe confused Mary" is a sentence, either Joe, or Mary, or confused is performing the function of a verb.
user178049
user178049
@Davo But this time, I trust my dictionary. "confused" is clearly an adjective because it's gradable and can be modified by very
Davo
Davo
Part of speech is really defined by how the word is used. I heated the water. The conversation became very heated.
Confused as a verb: OLD, MacMillan, Dictionary.com, Verbix.com, Reverso.net...
user178049
user178049
17:01
@Davo According to OLD, confuse is a verb, but confused is an adjective. You might also enjoy reading this.
Davo
Davo
@user178049 Confused is also the past tense of Confuse.
user178049
user178049
Hello @Davo
Yep, but it's a past participle in this sense.
I mean, participial adjective
Davo
Davo
In the sense of "I confuse sometimes"?
I've been wrong before. Plenty of times. Please show me what the verb is in that sentence.
user178049
user178049
I think your analysis is OK. It can also be analyzed as passive here. But with the absence of the agent (by phrase) and the adverbial "sometimes", it seems illogical.
"I confuse sometimes" is ungrammatical to me, because it needs an object.
Davo
Davo
I agree that it is not an expected or idiomatic usage.
user178049
user178049
17:05
I get confused can be understood as passive or active (participial adjective)
Davo
Davo
"I am." is a sentence; so is "I confuse." and I don't see how "I confuse sometimes." might not be a sentence.
I elaborate sometimes. I swim sometimes. I chat sometimes.
Certainly, there are better ways of expressing the same thought.
user178049
user178049
I am is a sentence elipsis (omission). "Are you OK?" "Yes, I am". But "confuse" which is not an auxiliary cannot be used that way, it needs an object because it's transitive.
The valency pattern of a clause is determined the predicator. Wait.. I'm looking for my books..
Btw, is this chat private? Tbh, I'm hoping there is more expert here, like Damkerng or Snailplane
Ok, here it is. According to Cambridge (dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/confuse) confuse is transitive. It's marked in the bracket Verb [T]. Can you see it?
Davo
Davo
I think anyone can join, but none are invited. Okay, I see that confuse is a transitive verb, yes.
user178049
user178049
Transitive verbs need an object. Which is normally a noun phrase "I confuse it". But verbs like "Swim/sleep/die" is intransitive so it doesn't take an obj.
Btw, I'm not really criticizing you. So pls take it with a grain of salt. I just think "confused" is better analyzed as an adjective :)
It's also OK to analyze it as passive. It just doesn't really make sense to me.
Davo
Davo
17:29
No, I appreciate it. I've been out of school for decades. :) So there would have to be an object, or at least an implied object, based on the rest of the conversation.
I edited my answer. Please see if that is better now. :)

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