Dr. Eleanor Marsh, a retired editor whose pulse still quickened at a misplaced apostrophe, had just received two gifts. One was a bottle of expensive Chianti. The other was a brand-new copy of Oxford Modern English Grammar by Bas Aarts.
Eleanor laughed. It was a rusty, surprised sound. All evening, they talked about aspect versus tense , the rise of the get -passive (“The window got broken”), and the curious life of the singular they . oxford modern english grammar by bas aarts
Tom nodded, chewing. “Aarts calls it a ‘thematic choice.’ The agent is suppressed because the speaker wants to avoid blame. Not bad grammar—just politics.” Dr. Eleanor Marsh