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As I know, intransitive verb can't be used in passive voice. Arrive is an intransitive verb. I wonder if "be +arrived" is still understandable and available?

Something will be arriving tomorrow. (arriving as progressive participle adjective)

Something is arrived. (arrived as participle adjective)

I know that it can't be passive voice, but the sentence structure is same as passive voice.

Are these two grammatically correct?

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  • I hope the package will be arriving tomorrow. Otherwise, it'll be too late for Christmas! (Just a seasonal way to acknowledge that, yes, "be arriving tomorrow" can be a valid construct.)
    – J.R.
    Dec 23, 2015 at 11:47

1 Answer 1

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BE arriving is grammatical: the progressive construction.

BE arrived was at one time grammatical.

Through Early Modern English, most verbs of motion (come, go, arrive, depart, move, and so forth) used BE instead of HAVE for the perfect construction.

Joy to the world! The Lord is come.

But that use gradually disappeared during the 18th and 19th centuries; today HAVE is the only perfect auxiliary. You should not use BE to construct perfects; say Something has arrived.

Note, however, that a few past participles act as frank adjectives—gone, for instance—and these can be used with BE to indicate a state rather than an action: Jack is gone now; we expect him back tomorrow.

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  • Can I say "arrived product"? Arrived (past participles) to modify product
    – Kam
    Dec 23, 2015 at 15:45
  • Use the word delivered instead - the delivered product, the product is delivered.
    – LawrenceC
    Jan 4, 2016 at 14:28

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