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Is the following sentence correct?

That the record will break today is probable.

I found this sentence in a book.

I think the sentence is wrong, because break is a transitive verb in this sense according to the Oxford Learner's Dictionaries. The sentence should be

That the record will be broken today is probable.

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  • @Michael but according to OALD in sense of breaking a record it is always transitive
    – user93387
    Sep 20, 2019 at 11:47
  • Be careful that the two examples you gave ae not sentences, they are fragments. In the best case, they are stray subordinate clauses.
    – virolino
    Sep 20, 2019 at 13:39
  • Break can be intransitive; the cup will break if you drop it; however records are generally broken (transitive use).
    – Michael Harvey
    Sep 20, 2019 at 15:52
  • I'm interested to know if indeed a record can break.
    – SovereignSun
    Sep 20, 2019 at 15:55
  • "I'm interested to know if indeed a record can break." Not by itself.
    – Michael Harvey
    Sep 20, 2019 at 17:27

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When the verb "break" refers to a record, it is normally used in a transitive way. Thus one normally says that a record "will be broken" (or has been broken) or that "X will break the record".

However, this is the kind of use where English tends to be flexible. Nouns get used as verbs, verbs as nouns, either as adjectives, and verbs are used intransitivly when they should technically be transitive. particularly in a news report, if someone writes:

That the record will break today is probable.

the meaning will be generally understood and few are likely to complain about the grammar. I would advise against using this construction, but it pretty clearly means the same thing as:

That the record will be broken today is probable.

and should be understood in that way.

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