I crossed the Mississippi.
The car had crossed over the river to Long Island.
We climbed the mountain.
I climbed up the tree.
Here is a list of verbs that describe movement, and examples of the prepositions that can follow them:
chase (after)
climb (up)
cross (over)
jump (over)
leap (over)
reach (across)
roam (over)
roam (through)
run (across)
skirt (round)
walk (through)
wander (through)
Changing your focus by changing the subject: I opened the door, The door opened
3.59 Some verbs allow you to describe an action from the point of view of the performer of the action or from the point of view of something that is affected by the action. This means that the same verb can be used with an object, or without an object, and without the original performer being mentioned.
In the first example below, the door is the object of the verb opened, but in the second example the door is the subject of opened and there is no mention of who opened the door.
I opened the door and peered into the room.
Suddenly the door opened.
An explosion shook the rooms.
The whole room shook.
Note that the object of the transitive verb, which is the subject of the intransitive verb, usually refers to a thing, not a person.
Verbs that can have the same thing as their object, when transitive, or their subject, when intransitive, are called ergative verbs. There are several hundred ergative verbs in regular use in current English.
changes
3.60 Many ergative verbs describe events that involve a change from one state to another.
He was slowing his pace.
She was aware that the aircraft’s taxiing pace had slowed.
I shattered the glass.
Wine bottles had shattered all over the pavement.
They have closed the town’s only pub.
The street markets have closed.
The firm has changed its name.
Over the next few months their work pattern changed.
The driver stopped the car.
A big car stopped.
3.61 Here is a list of ergative verbs that describe events involving a change of some kind:
age
begin
bend
bleach
break
burn
burst
change
close
continue
crack
darken
decrease
diminish
disperse
double
drown
dry
empty
end
fade
finish
grow
improve
increase
open
quicken
rot
shatter
shrink
shut
slow
split
spread
start
stick
stop
stretch
tear
thicken
widen
worsen
food, movement, vehicles
3.62 There are many other ergative verbs that relate specifically to certain areas of meaning. For example, some relate to food and cooking, others describe physical movement, and others involve a vehicle as the object of the transitive verb or the subject of the intransitive verb.
I’ve boiled an egg.
The porridge is boiling.
I’m cooking spaghetti.
The rice is cooking.
The birds turned their heads sharply at the sound.
Vorster’s head turned.
She rested her head on his shoulder.
Her head rested on the edge of the table.
She had crashed the car twice.
Pollock’s car crashed into a clump of trees.
3.63 Here is a list of verbs relating to food, physical movement, and vehicles:
bake
boil
cook
defrost
fry
melt
roast
simmer
thicken
~
balance
drop
move
rest
rock
shake
spin
stand
steady
swing
turn
~
back
crash
drive
fly
park
reverse
run
sail
restrictions on ergative subjects
3.64 Note that some verbs are used ergatively with one or two nouns only. For example, you can say He fired a gun or The gun fired. You can also say He fired a bullet, but you would not normally say The bullet fired.
I rang the bell.
The bell rang.
A car was sounding its horn.
A horn sounded in the night.
He had caught his sleeve on a splinter of wood.
The hat caught on a bolt and tore.
3.65 Here is a list of verbs that can be used ergatively with the noun, or type of noun, that is given:
catch (an article of clothing)
fire (a gun, rifle, pistol)
play (music)
ring (a bell, the alarm)
show (an emotion such as fear, anger)
sound (a horn, the alarm)
ergative verbs that need extra information
3.66 There are a few ergative verbs that usually have an adverb or some other phrase or clause when they are used intransitively. This is because you choose this structure when you want to emphasize how something behaves when affected in some way, and so the person who does the action is not important.
I like the new Range Rover. It handles beautifully.
Wool washes well if you treat it carefully.
Here is a list of ergative verbs that are usually followed by some extra information when they are used intransitively:
clean
freeze
handle
mark
polish
sell
stain
wash
comparison of passive and ergative use
3.67 Note that ergative verbs perform a similar function to the passive because they allow you to avoid mentioning who or what does the action. For example, you could say Jane froze a lot of peas from the garden. If you were not interested in who froze them but in what she froze, you could say A lot of peas were frozen, using the passive. If you were interested in how they froze, you could say, The peas from the garden froze really well, making use of the fact that the verb is ergative.
For information about the passive, see 9.8 to 9.24.
Verbs that involve people affecting each other with the same action: John and Mary argued
3.68 Some verbs can describe processes that involve two people or two groups of people doing the same thing to each other. For example, John and Mary argued means that John argued with Mary and Mary argued with John.