Ergative verbs

[Butterfly]

Basically, I understand the definition of `ergative verbs`.
However there are examples which I find quite difficult to understand...

1.She photographs very well.
2.Her voice records well.

... Can you explain something more about the ergative verbs?

[Alan]

Hi,

An ergative verb in English is where the verb doesn't have an agent for a subject but the verb in a way expresses the action itself without having a separate subject

If you take the verb 'grow' you can make it transitive (have an object) as in: The farmer grows wheat in this farm When grow is used in an ergative way, you could say: Wheat grows very well on this farm. In this sentence the subject and the object are in a way the same - 'wheat'. Other examples: The kettle is boiling/Snow melts in the sun/.

A
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English as a Second Language
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