Phrasal verbs in the passive voice
I was trying to think of some test for whether a verb/preposition combination is a phrasal verb or not, and I though of one, then immediately realised it was useless.
If you turn the combination into a passive construction, it always works.
Squatters lived in the building.
The building was lived in by squatters.
or
Trucks drove along the street continually.
The street was continually driven along by trucks.
Doesn't this call the whole distinction between phrasal verbs and verbs that are just followed by a prepositional phrase into question? 'Live in' and 'drive along' aren't phrasal verbs here, but they 'passivise' into transitive verbs. Does every verb/preposition become a phrasal verb in the passive voice?
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