Ergative Verbs

Ergative verbs are like third state between active and passive.

For example, it is normal to say:

• I broke the window. (Active)

Or

• The windows was broken by me. (Passive)

Here it is more important to say that the windows was broken then by whom.

• The window broke. (Ergative)
• The window broke when John threw the vall it.

We can always put more information into an ergative clause if we need it.

1. Ergative verbs are both transitive and instransitive but they prefer to be intransitive.
   • Peter closed the door. Transitive: N + V + N
   • The door closed. Intransitive: N + V (Natural)
   • I boiled a pot of water. Transitive: N + V + N
   • The pot boiled. Intransitive: N + V (Natural)
2. Common ergative verbs are: begin, blow, break, change, close, drop, crack, dry, end, finish, grow, improve, increase, move, open, shake, start, stop, tear, turn.
   • I broke the glass. I dropped the glass and it broke.
   • I referre blew his shislte and started the match. The referre's whislte blew and the match started at 2.30.
   • We grew some tasty potatoes. The potatoes were growing well.
   • The wind shook the trees. The trees shook.
3. Many verbs to do with cooking are ergative verbs: bake, boil, cook, defrost, freeze, melt, roast.
   • You should roast the meat at 200 defrees centigrade. The meat was roasting in a hot oven.
   • I always defrost meat before I cook it. The meat defrosted in record time.
   • Melt the chocolate and pour it over the icre cream. The chocolate melted in the pan.
4. 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.
5. We use some ergative verbs with only a few nouns:
   • catch: dress, coat, clothes, trousers, etc.
   • fire: gun, pistol, rifle, rocket.
   • play: guitar, music, piano, violin, CD, DVD, etc.
   • ring: bell, alarm
   • She caught her dress on a nail. Her dress caught on a nail.
   • He fired a postol to start the race. A pistol fired to start the race.
   • The man rang the doorbell. The doorbell rang.