Level: intermediate
Ergative verbs are both transitive and intransitive. The object when it is transitive is the same as the subject when it is intransitive:
| Peter closed the door. The door closed. |
Transitive: N + V + N Intransitive: N + V |
| I boiled some water. The water boiled. |
Transitive: N + V + N Intransitive: N + V |
Common ergative verbs are:
| begin break change close crack |
drop dry end finish grow |
improve increase move open shake |
start stop tear turn |
I broke the glass.
I dropped the glass and it broke.The referee started the match.
The match started at 2.30.We grew some tasty potatoes.
The potatoes were growing well.The wind shook the trees.
The trees shook in the wind.
Verbs to do with cooking are often ergative:
| bake boil |
cook defrost |
freeze melt |
roast |
You should roast the meat at 200 degrees.
The meat was roasting in a hot oven.I always defrost meat before I cook it.
I am waiting for the meat to defrost.Melt the chocolate and pour it over the ice cream.
The chocolate was melting in a pan.
Verbs to do with vehicles are often ergative:
| back crash drive |
fly reverse |
run sail |
start stop |
I'm learning to fly a plane.
The plane flew at twice the speed of sound.He crashed his car into a tree.
His car crashed into a tree.
Some verbs are ergative with only a few nouns:
| catch: dress, coat, clothes, trousers, etc. |
| fire: gun, pistol, rifle, rocket, etc. |
| play: music, guitar, piano, CD, DVD, etc. |
| ring: bell, alarm, etc. |
She caught her dress on a nail.
Her dress caught on a nail.He fired a pistol to start the race.
A pistol fired to start the race.Shall we play some music?
Some music played in the background.There's a fire! Ring the alarm!
The fire alarm rang at 11.42 a.m.
- Ergative verbs 1
Hello sir ,
Why do we always when use ergative verb in intransitive we use it with past tense ?
Hi g-ssan,
Actually that's not a rule. It's just that most of the examples above use the past simple. Intransitive uses can be in other tenses/structures too. Here are some examples:
I hope that helps to understand it.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello. Could you please tell me how to use the verb "rank" correctly? When is it used in the active and passive thanks! For example:
- He was ranked second in his age group.
- At the height of her career she ranked second in the world.
Thank you.
Hello Ahmed Imam,
In the first sentence, 'rank' is in the passive voice. This is an example of the transitive use of the verb, which means 'to position in a list'. In this use, 'rank' is not always passive; for example, you could say 'He ranked the children by age'.
In the second sentence, 'rank' is intransitive and expresses the same idea of being in a position in a list.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
These are not mutually exclusive things. Gym refers to a place - a bulding where you can exercise. It may also be an object when it is used in a sentence. It may be a subject, of course. Its role in the sentence depends on the construction of the sentence; particular words do not have only one grammatical role.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ahmed Imam,
The correct answer is (b) - passive voice. The report does not finish itself; someone finishes it.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Dear Peter
still I have some ambiguity about your answer. please consider these examples:
1- the match finished at 7 PM.( finish, here is an ergative and the doer of finishing is not the match. like the sentence, the boat sank, nobody expect the boat, have done the action of sinking. main aspect of ergative verbs)
2- the match was finished( here the sentence is going to convey the idea that the match terminated by someone or something, clear passive sentence)
3- John finished his tasks.( active)
base on these examples, I think in this sentence, the report is about to finish very soon, could be correct and is a good example of finish verb at its ergative form.
please guide me
Hello aria rousta,
It actually depends on the context you have in mind. I assumed that Ahmed Imam was talking about a report which he (for example) was writing. In this case only the passive is possible as the report needs a person in order to reach completion. However, if the report is a news report then both forms are possible. A recorded news report will finish without any intervention. The answer depends on what kind of report you have in mind.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
The adjective here is stray, as in a dog which has no home or has escaped and lives on the street.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again Rsb,
No, we cannot say strayed here. As an adjective, it would have a passive meaning. Just as 'a killed dog' means someone killed it, 'a strayed dog' would suggest someone 'strayed' the dog,. However, 'stray' is an intransitive verb which takes no object and so has no passive form. Therefore it cannot be used with this meaning here.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
'stray' is normally an adjective or a verb. It's also possible to say 'a stray', but this is really 'a stray dog' but with the noun omitted.
Please note we don't usually use 'stray' to refer to people -- typically it refers to pets such as cats and dogs. There are other uses, but I've never heard it used to refer to homeless people.
The sentence you cite is correct. The verb 'strayed' is in the past simple and is intransitive, as Peter pointed out.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
No, I'm afraid that's not correct in standard British or American English. 'The boy who strayed into the street' doesn't mean the boy is lost, but rather that he entered the street without realising it.
I'd suggest you look up 'stray' in several dictionaries and that you do some internet searches to see how exactly the word is used. I'm afraid we can't provide extended explanations of how words are used -- that's something you have to work out on your own. We're happy to give you some pointers from time to time, but it will be much more effective for you to spend time studying these things by reading about them.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
I have no idea, to be frank. It does not look correct to me.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Rsb,
It's possible that the verb is used in this way in some contexts. To my ear it sounds unnatural, however, and I would not use it in this way.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Shaban Nafea,
When we use 'launch' to refer to vessels or missiles, it's usually a transitive verb -- in other words, it has an object. You can see this in the example sentences if you follow the link. I'd recommend you use a similar structure or that you use the second sentences above, which is passive, though I'd probably change 'is' to 'will be' or 'is going to be'.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Ahmed Imam,
Yes! Both versions are correct, and the meaning is the same.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
Although people would understand 2 if you said it, I'm afraid it's not correct. It's grammatically possible to say 'You made me wake up' or 'They're going to have me woken up early in the morning', if that's what you mean.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
No, it is not. 'You made me wake' ('wake' is an infinitive) is correct.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
I'm afraid the second sentence is not correct, at least in standard British English. You could make it a passive form (in which case it is also a dynamic, transitive verb): 'The meet has been postponed'.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Rsb,
It's because finish is both intransitive and transitive, but postpone is transitive only. Here's a link to postpone in the Cambridge Dictionary - the 'T' after verb shows that it's transitive.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/postpone
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi rsb,
Yes! Separate is transitive and intransitive, and it is an action verb in this example.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Rsb,
The meaning of separate in this context is this (I quote it from the Cambridge Dictionary):
It's an action verb because it means starting to live in a different place (not the state of living in a different place), and 'starting' something is an action. This is also why has started is an action verb in your second example.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
Yes, you could say it that way.
You can find out this information yourself by checking the dictionary entry for 'scare'. When verbs are listed as 'I or T' (intransitive or transitive), they are usually ergative verbs.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
Yes, 'drown' can be transitive or intransitive. I'm afraid your sentences are not correct, however: you should use the preposition 'in' instead of 'into'.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
Suspended is a transitive verb and requires an object. It can also be used in passive voice, of course, and this would be the most likely form here:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
I don't see where you asked this, but please note that 'separate' can be both transitive and intransitive. In the example you mention, it is clearly intransitive, as it has no object. 'suspend' on the other hand, has an object -- the policemen. Well, in the passive version, technically 'policemen' is the subject, but it means the same thing as the active version.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team