What would be the passive voice of "passengers stay in a hotel".
The whole sentence would be "passengers can be forwarded to their destination in a new flight, or (be kept) in a hotel". "Kept" is not a word I want to use for humans :)
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2How about passengers can be forwarded to their destination in a new flight, or stay in a hotel? There is no need for a passive verb here. That is probably also the reason why no passive exists anyway. Unless you mean put up in a hotel, which means more than simply staying, and hence it is a different verb.– Cerberus - Reinstate MonicaOct 11, 2012 at 18:35
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5Related: Is there a passive for the sentence “Be quiet”? (and probably a dozen others, but that one got posted just a couple hours ago). The answer is always the same.– RegDwigнtOct 11, 2012 at 18:38
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As a matter of good style, there is no need to use a second passive verb in this sentence. You can simply use 'stay', or, for better sentence rhythm (not quite sure on your meaning) 'choose to stay.' Also, it should be "on" a new flight.– MerkOct 12, 2012 at 0:13
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5 Answers
You can only form a passive out of a transitive verb. To stay when used transitively does not mean the same thing as used intransitively.
The word you might be looking for is lodged. People can be lodged in or at a hotel.
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3+1 for the first sentence, but I think in practice brochures and the like would probably say or [passengers can] be accommodated in a hotel. Oct 11, 2012 at 23:49
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"Lodge" is transitive only when it means "wedge" or something similar, hm? You can lodge a shim in a gap, but you can't lodge a hotel.– user61268Oct 28, 2014 at 23:19
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@Tony But you do hear people saying that they lodged at a hotel. Lots of hits for that one.– tchrist ♦Oct 29, 2014 at 1:59
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@tchrist Yeah, but "at a hotel" answers where, not what. Likewise, you can say "I read a book" or "I read at a hotel". The first can be made passive (a book was read by me), but the second cannot (*at a hotel was read by me), because it's not a transitive formulation.– user61268Oct 29, 2014 at 12:06
Besides tchrist's suggestion of lodged, you could also say
Passengers can be sent to their destination on a different flight or be housed at a hotel.
(In this instance, house has the definition of: to give shelter to; harbor; lodge
Or you could say:
Passengers can be sent to their destination on a different flight or be put up in a hotel.
Or you could say:
Passengers can be sent to their destination on a different flight or can be provided with a hotel room.
The term checked-in to a hotel is often used, especially when the airline or agency is making the arrangements.
I think using stay is already the best solution. The fundamental purpose of using language is to express our opinion in a clear and neat way rather than to using impressive expression to attract the attention
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But shall we at first identify the fundamental purpose of finding the passive voice of stay before answering that?– Larry LoOct 12, 2012 at 2:32
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If you want to stress that the passive voice is unnecessary, please state so in your answer along with an explanation. A comparison of passengers can stay in a hotel and passengers can be accommodated in a hotel (within the context of the OP's sentence) will also be interesting. Oct 12, 2012 at 2:57
The literal passive version would be "a hotel can be stayed in by passengers" or just "a hotel can be stayed in".
Both are clunky--and also cold. They make it sound like you want no part in the action and couldn't care less what the passengers do. If you're asking for a better solution, I think some have already been given.
