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Ergative VerbIn the English language, an ergative verb is a verb whose action affects the subject, rather than the object, of the verb. Another way to describe this is that a normal verb's patient is its object, whereas an ergative verb's patient is its subject. Often, but not always, ergative verbs take no direct object. Some verbs can act as either a regular transitive verb or an ergative verb. Examples of ergative-only verbs: - I think.
- I see.
- I understand.
- I experience.
Examples of verbs that can be ergative or transitive: - open
- The door opens.
- John opens the door.
- eat
- I ate.
- I ate a hamburger.
See also
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