Children are exempt from the charges.
Children are exempted from the charges.
From these two sentences, the former is an example Longman dictionary provides for the word "exempt". My question is that whether the latter, which replaces the adjective exempt with the verb exempted, would be grammatically acceptable as well? And if it would, does that replacement induce any discrepancy in terms of meaning or connotation?
Best Answer
They mean the same thing, but the second one calls attention to the fact that the exemption came from somewhere or someone.
Imagine you're talking to some bureaucrat at a counter. She smiles at your children, passes your money back, and says "You don't need to pay this; children are exempt."
Different situation. You don't have enough money, and children are not normally exempt. "Okay, we'll make an exception." She scribbles her name on a piece of paper and writes "Children are exempted from the charges by my authority."
You could still used exempted in the first case, but you cannot use exempt in the second one.