3.60 Changing your focus by changing the subject: ergative verbs

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 which is affected by the action. This means that the same verb can be used transitively, followed by the object, or intransitively, 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.

• When I opened the door, there was Laverne.
• 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 which can use the object of a transitive verb as the subject of an intransitive verb are called ergative verbs. For many students of English, the ergative verb is a new idea, and may take a little time to learn. However, it is an important type of verb, as the common examples below make clear. There are several hundred ergative verbs in regular use in current English.