Can I say,

Peter slipped and fell into the river. He was drowning / was drowned in the river.

You can, but did he die or not? ;-)

He didn't die yet. So, how do I say?

quote:

He didn't die yet. So, how do I say?

Of course he was drowning .

The two sentences should be collapsed. They don't sound good as separate items:

Peter slipped and fell into the river and was drowning.

Of course this is a very odd since you haven't stated the ending.

It's good to remember that if, in fact, he's now dead, the sentence would be

Peter slipped, fell into the river, and drowned.

Thanks, Can I say,

(a) When Peter was drowning, luckily a young man came (to help him)

(b) Suddenly, Peter slipped at the riverbank and fell into the river. Peter started to drown because he does not know how to swim .

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bear_bear,

(a) Ok.

(b) ... because he didn't know how to swim.

quote:

The two sentences should be collapsed. They don't sound good as separate items:

I'd disagree. The separation lends suspense, more drama.

"was drowned"

has a totally different meaning: he was killed by someone by drowning

<"was drowned"

has a totally different meaning: he was killed by someone by drowning>

How about "was drowned by the rushing waters/strong current/swell, etc?

quote:

(b) Suddenly, Peter slipped at the riverbank and fell into the river. Peter started to drown because he does not know how to swim .

This sentence is OK if Peter survived.

'...because he didn't know' if he did not survive.'

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Rachel, Moderator,

quote:

How about "was drowned by the rushing waters/strong current/swell, etc?

I don't think this passive construction is usual. We would probably say:

'...he drowned in the rushing waters/ strong current, swell...'

quote:

'...he drowned in the rushing waters/ strong current, swell...'

Is that an example of the middle voice?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: <MikeyC>,

You tell us, MikeyC.

quote:

You tell us, MikeyC.

Not sure. It sounds awfully similar to these:

The caked baked (in the oven).
The clothes washed well.
This soup eats like a meal.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: <MikeyC>,

I guess we'd keep the "by" version here:

"This thought, too, caused him a few moments of depression before it was drowned by feelings of tranquil pleasure."

Interesting. What leads us to use "in" when "drowned" is used literally and "in/by" when it is metaphoric?

He was drowned in the raging torrent.
His speech was drowned by the rabble.
His plea was drowned in/by the clatter of hooves.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: <MikeyC>,

Those three examples you gave above, Mikey, (The caked baked (in the oven). / The clothes washed well. / This soup eats like a meal.) are examples of what we call ergative verbs.

Yes, Richard has identified three ergative verbs. ‘Drown’ is also an ergative verb. As well, it is a verb of the middle voice.

From Alice Y.W. Chan:

• In English, there is a category of verbs known as Ergative Verbs. They are verbs which allow the three-voice option of active, middle or passive (Lock, 1996). Examples include close, evaporate, bend, increase, sink, shrink, drown, break, change, drop, etc.
e.g.
1. The sun evaporates water. (Active Voice)
2. Water is evaporated (by the sun). (Passive Voice)
3. Water evaporates. (Middle Voice)
4. Someone dropped a pen. (Active Voice)
5. A pen was dropped (by someone). (Passive Voice)
6. A pen dropped. (Middle Voice)

What is the middle voice? The middle voice can be seen as in the middle of active voice and passive voice. When it is used, the object of a transitive clause (e.g. water in sentences 1 and a pen in sentence 4) becomes the subject of an intransitive clause (see sentences 3 and 6). These subjects can be argued as the doers of the actions represented by the ergative verbs (e.g. evaporate in sentence 3 and drop in sentence 6) and act upon themselves, but the actions involved normally come about more or less spontaneously. There may be no doers at all, and even if there are doers, the actions are often not done deliberately or intentionally by the doers.
_______

Alice Y.W. Chan: Ideas for Teaching Ergative Verbs to ESL Students. Internet TESL Journal, Vol. XIV, No. 1, January 2008

So all these would be grammatically correct, I imagine:

The raging waters drowned him.
He was drowned by/in the raging waters.
Raging waters drown.

The first two are correct, MikeyC.

The last one could be 'People drown,' as in 'if you can't swim, you drown.'

While theoretically it seems possible to say that raging rivers drown -- that's what they do -- this subject and verb cry out for an object, which would be 'people,' or something like that.