Collins Cobuild English Grammar (65 page)

liaise with

lust after

lust for

prevail on

prevail upon

profit by

profit from

rely on

rely upon

revolve around

revolve round

spring from

spring out of

Note that some intransitive verbs can be used in the passive when they are followed by a preposition. See paragraph
9.23
.

intransitive verbs followed by an adverb or prepositional phrase

3.12
    Other verbs can be followed by a variety of prepositional phrases, or an adverb, often relating to time or place.

Verbs of movement are usually or often followed by adverbs or phrases relating to direction.

He went
back to his own room
.
I travelled
south
.

Here is a list of verbs of movement:

come

crawl

creep

drift

flow

gallop

glide

go

hurtle

plunge

run

soar

spring

stroll

travel

walk

Look
,
gaze
,
glance
, and
stare
are also followed by adverbs or phrases relating to direction.

Verbs of position are usually followed by adverbs or phrases relating to position.

Donald was lying
on the bed
.
She lives
in Lausanne
.
I used to live
here
.

Here is a list of verbs of position:

be

belong

hang

lie

live

be located

remain

sit

be situated

stand

stay

Verbs such as
extend
or
stretch
are followed by adverbs or phrases relating to extent.

…an area stretching
from London to Cambridge
.

There are a few verbs that are always followed by other types of adverb or phrase.

It behaves
rather like a squirrel
.
My brother agreed to act
as a go-between
.
I hoped that the absorption of poison hadn’t progressed
too far
.

Here is a list of verbs that are always followed by other types of adverb or phrase:

act

behave

campaign

progress

verbs that are occasionally transitive

3.13
    There are a few verbs that are usually intransitive but that can be transitive when they are used with one particular object. The object is usually directly related to the verb. For example,
smile
is usually used without an object, but you can use it with the noun
smile
. For example,
He smiled a patient smile
is a literary alternative to saying
He smiled patiently
. The focus is on the type of smile rather than on the act of smiling.

Steve
smiled his thin, cruel smile
.
He appears to have
lived the life of any other rich gentleman
.
Alice
laughed a scornful laugh
.
I once
dreamed a very nice dream
about you.

Here is a list of verbs that can only be used with an object when the object is directly related to the verb:

dance (a dance)

die (a death)

dream (a dream)

laugh (a laugh)

live (a life)

sigh (a sigh)

smile (a smile)

A more common way of focusing on the noun phrase is to use a
delexical verb
such as
give
,
take
, or
have
, as in
Mary gave him a really lovely smile
. See paragraphs
3.32
to
3.45
for more information about the use of delexical verbs.

Transitive verbs: involving someone or something other than the subject

3.14
    Many verbs describe events that must, in addition to the subject, involve someone or something else. Some of these verbs can only be used with a following object.

The extra profit
justifies
the investment.
He
had committed
a disgraceful action.
They are
employing
more staff.

This means that they are followed by a direct object.

She had
friends
.
Children seek
independence
.
The trial raised
a number of questions
.

different types of object

3.15
    Many verbs that are only used with an object can take a large range of objects. For example, there are many things you can
want
: money, a rest, success, and so on.

She
wanted
some help.
I
put
my hand on the door.
She
described
her background.
I still
support
the government.
He
had
always
liked
Mr Phillips.
Japan
has
a population of about a hundred million.

Some transitive verbs have a restricted range of objects, because of their meaning. For example, the object of the verb
kill
must be something that is alive. The object of the verb
waste
must be something you can use, such as time, money, or food.

They
killed
huge elephants with tiny poisoned darts.
Why
waste
money on them?

3.16
    Here is a list of verbs that are transitive:

achieve

address

admire

affect

afford

avoid

bear

believe

blame

build

buy

calm

carry

catch

claim

commit

complete

concern

consider

control

convince

correct

cover

create

cut

damage

defy

demand

describe

design

desire

destroy

discover

discuss

display

do

dread

enjoy

equal

exchange

expect

experience

express

favour

fear

fill

find

free

get

give

grant

guard

handle

hate

have

hear

heat

hire

hit

include

influence

introduce

issue

justify

keep

kill

know

lack

like

list

love

lower

maintain

make

mean

mention

name

need

own

plant

please

prefer

prevent

process

produce

pronounce

protect