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When I was reading the now ongoing investigation and interrogation on Comey.,

in the 4th paragraph

In an op-ed for the New York Times Serratore argued that the document read like a statement from a survivor of workplace harassment. At a January 27 dinner, she noted, Comey found out he would be alone with the president.

Now everybody knows the document(s) can not read by itself.

Is this a mistake? Or grammatically correct?

I am sorry if I sound like trying to find trifle things.

Ben Kovitz
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    No mistake. This is the intransitive read. The OED says of it: " b. To have a specified character or quality when read; to produce a certain impression on readers; to give rise to a particular interpretation." – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Jun 12 '17 at 03:28
  • Uh, I am sorry I did not bother to check the dictionary since it is a too common word. So intransitive to produce a certain impression. I was educated like a 4th grader. ^^ –  Jun 12 '17 at 03:31
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    No need to be sorry. It's important to grasp the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs—even in the 4th grade! – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Jun 12 '17 at 03:34
  • No, this is a big finding. I did not know or should I have said I was not familiar so much with the fact that transitive frequent verb "read" ( unless without be verb ) has the intransitive.! –  Jun 12 '17 at 03:37
  • For further research, a good link to start with is here. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Jun 12 '17 at 03:41
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    I think some of the native speakers aren't empathizing with your difficulty. People learning English, who already know about transitive and intransitive verbs, are often surprised to find that English often lets you use a transitive verb intransitively. The intransitive usage has a new sense, which natives perceive as "the same" verb, but foreigners find surprising—until they've seen it a few times. Here and here are similar questions. – Ben Kovitz Jun 15 '17 at 01:46
  • @Clare Yep, it's a duplicate, though this question seems way more interesting and potentially enlightening about the middle voice or ergativity in English. The other question lacks an answer that explains how this works. I'm going to go mark the other question as a duplicate of this one and then hope that this one gets a really good answer really fast. :) – Ben Kovitz Jun 15 '17 at 17:39
  • @Clare Hmm, actually, the other question more clearly targets the general phenomenon and what it's called. It would be the perfect question to link back to, except that none of the answers explained it or said what it's called, and it has an accepted answer. Still, contra my previous comment, maybe the best thing to do is add a new answer over there. – Ben Kovitz Jun 15 '17 at 17:54

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Just to make an answer out of the above comments, since no one has in the previous two days:

When a document or sign or sentence "reads", it generally means one of two things:

  1. (Transitive.) To have a given message on it available to be read; to "bear (a specified inscription)" (OED entry read, v., VI, 24).

There is no point driving around it looking for a sign reading ‘City Centre’, because there isn't one.

  1. (Intransitive.) To have a given tone when read, to "produce a particular impression on readers" (as @P.E.Dant cited from the same OED entry, VI, 22 b).

Danielewski's newest offering reads like a love story that slipped into a particle accelerator.

In the example you cited, the second meaning is intended.

Luke Sawczak
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