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I want to know this sentence is passive or not. if passive then please convert into active.

1) The road is closed. There has been an accident

rajiv Dixit
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    The second clause is present perfect and the first one is passive, but this one is the result of the action in the past, which is what present perfect does. – Schwale Jun 21 '16 at 14:36
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    @Ustanak I think closed is an adjective and the sentence is in active voice. – Cardinal Jun 21 '16 at 14:44
  • then why we use has been there – rajiv Dixit Jun 21 '16 at 14:51
  • please more detail – rajiv Dixit Jun 21 '16 at 15:11
  • there has been an accident. in this where is subject. i can't see any subject in this sentence it's me this sentence is a passive sentence – rajiv Dixit Jun 21 '16 at 15:21
  • @rajivDixit - There is a dummy subject. English sentences have to have a subject, so when we want to make a statement about the existence of something, we usually say there is or it is. – stangdon Jun 21 '16 at 16:34
  • If you want to notice when a simple sentence is in the passive voice, my old answer should be helpful: http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/16398/why-was-is-used-in-perfect-past-tense/16399#16399. – Damkerng T. Jun 21 '16 at 17:48
  • can anyone please make a post on how to use ''been'' in normal sentences and in present perfect active. please and also mention when would you use been in sentences that process is ongoing or stopped – rajiv Dixit Jun 22 '16 at 04:58
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    @Cardinal But you can use the active version: someone closes the road. – Schwale Jun 24 '16 at 17:01
  • @Ustanak I am not sure what you mean, but closed is an adjective in that sentence – Cardinal Jun 24 '16 at 17:49

1 Answers1

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The title of your post mentions the present perfect passive. The body of your post does not contain any example of that structure. Allow me to provide one:

The road has been closed.

The complete verb phrase is "has been closed". The "has + been" portion follows the usual rules for forming the perfect aspect. The "been + closed" portion follows the usual rules for forming the passive voice.

Changing this passive-voice construction to the active voice requires the addition of a semantic actor or agent as the subject:

Someone or something has closed the road.

 

Of the two sentences that you do provide, one might be a passive construction. The sentence

The road is closed.

might imply

Someone or something closes the road.

As some commentators have noted, this sentence can be interpreted in another way. The word "closed" might also be a predicate adjective subject complement. If so, the "is" stands alone as a simple present-tense linking verb.

If your two sentences are related, then the passive voice interpretation makes more sense:

An accident closes the road.

 

There is nothing passive about the sentence "There has been an accident". The complete verb is "has been", which follows the rules for the perfect aspect. The main verb happens to be a form of the verb "to be", but it doesn't indicate the passive voice because no participle follows it.

Gary Botnovcan
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    However, while it is not passive, it is an anomalous structure and I am not surprised that the OP is confused by it, and thinks it might be passive. The verb "be" in the sense "occur" or "take place" requires the dummy subject "there": the logical subject (the event that occurred) cannot be used as grammatical subject in this construction: you can't say "An accident has been". This is not a passive, but it looks like one in that the logical subject is not the grammatical subject. – Colin Fine Jun 24 '16 at 22:22
  • I think you will get down votes since you say the fact that there is no passive. Be careful I earned 2 :)) – Cardinal Jun 24 '16 at 23:08