Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2008 August 11

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August 11

Was graduated

'John Smith' pursued classical studies and was graduated from Yale in 1991.

OR

'John Smith' pursued classical studies and graduated from Yale in 1991.

Is graduating something a person does or something that is done to them?

Wanderer57 (talk) 22:11, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

It's something they do. Your 2nd example is the one to use. -- JackofOz (talk) 22:21, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Nowadays, either one is fine. In the 19th century, the transitive sense was the only proper use ("He was graduated from Yale,") and the intransitive sense ("He graduated from Yale") was condemned. At present, both transitive and intransitive senses are accepted: the dispute now is over whether a preposition is needed: "she graduated from high school", vs. "she graduated high school". Best use still favors the former, but all three ("she was graduated from college", "she graduated from college", and "she graduated college") are perfectly standard English usage. - Nunh-huh 22:30, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

I'm with Jack on this one. I've never heard the other one before, and omission of the preposition is purely an American thing.--ChokinBako (talk) 00:09, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Well, I've stated more or less what the dictionary I have at hand says. So Wanderer57 is free to go with the Merriam-Webster 11th Collegiate edition, or with the musings of two Wikipedians, or to consult another dictionary. - Nunh-huh 01:24, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

A fourth opinion, for what it's worth: Nunh-huh's analysis was spot on. Deor (talk) 01:45, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Nunh-huh's analysis might be accurate but a bit archaic. The examples actually use two different definitions of graduate. Graduate in the transitive sense is considered outdated, a point noted by even the Oxford English Dictionary. Instead many opt to use the definition "to take a degree". In this sence the second example would fit. Omahapubliclibrary (talk) 05:56, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Style guides tend to recommend active voice over passive for more precise language afaik though I couldn't find it in WP:MoS have come across it before in the pedia. Julia Rossi (talk) 01:06, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

That's where there exists an appropriate active construction, which would only apply to a transitive verb in any case. "He graduated from Yale" is intransitive, and is neither active nor passive. "He was graduated from Yale" is passive, the active form of which might be "Yale graduated him", or even "<something> graduated him from Yale", but I've never heard either of those forms used anywhere. The absence of an appropriate active version of "he was graduated" suggests the passive version is also malformed. But that's logic, and it doesn't necessarily have much to do with how language actually works. -- JackofOz (talk) 04:06, 13 August 2008 (UTC)