Collins Cobuild English Grammar (64 page)

3.8
      When you are talking about an action or event that does not have an object, you use an
intransitive verb
.

Her whole body
ached
.
Such people still
exist
.
My condition
deteriorated
.

Many intransitive verbs describe physical behaviour or the making of sounds.

Bob
coughed
.
Vicki
wept
bitterly.
The gate
squeaked
.

3.9
      Here is a list of verbs that are normally used without an object and that usually or often have no adverb or prepositional phrase after them:

ache

advance

arise

arrive

bleed

blush

cease

collapse

cough

crackle

cry

decay

depart

deteriorate

die

digress

dine

disappear

disintegrate

doze

droop

economize

elapse

ensue

erupt

evaporate

exist

expire

faint

fall

falter

fidget

flinch

flourish

fluctuate

gleam

growl

happen

hesitate

howl

itch

kneel

laugh

moan

occur

pause

persist

prosper

quiver

recede

relent

rise

roar

scream

shine

shiver

sigh

sleep

slip

smile

snarl

sneeze

snore

snort

sob

sparkle

speak

squeak

squeal

stink

subside

sulk

surrender

swim

throb

tingle

vanish

vary

vibrate

wait

waver

weep

wilt

work

yawn

A few of these verbs are used with an object in idioms or with very specific objects, but they are intransitive in all their common meanings.

intransitive verbs followed by phrases that begin with a preposition

3.10
    Many intransitive verbs always or typically have an adverb or prepositional phrase after them. With some, only a prepositional phrase beginning with a particular preposition is possible. This use of a preposition allows something affected by the action to be mentioned, as the object of the preposition.

Everything you see here
belongs to
me.
Landlords often
resorted to
violence.
I
sympathized with
them.
I’
m relying on
Bill.
He
strives for
excellence in all things.

3.11
    Here is a list of verbs that always or typically have a particular preposition after them when they are used with a particular meaning:

rave about

~

insure against

plot against

react against

~

hint at

~

alternate between

differentiate between

oscillate between

~

appeal for

atone for

care for

clamour for

hope for

long for

opt for

pay for

qualify for

strive for

yearn for

~

detract from

emanate from

emerge from

radiate from

shrink from

stem from

suffer from

~

believe in

consist in

culminate in

dabble in

indulge in

invest in

result in

wallow in

~

lapse into

~

complain of

conceive of

consist of

despair of

learn of

smack of

think of

tire of

~

bet on

feed on

insist on

spy on

trample on

~

adhere to

allude to

amount to

appeal to

aspire to

assent to

attend to

belong to

bow to

cling to

defer to

dictate to

lead to

listen to

object to

refer to

relate to

resort to

revert to

stoop to

~

alternate with

associate with

consort with

contend with

flirt with

grapple with

sympathize with

teem with

Here is a list of verbs that can have either of two prepositions after them with the same or very similar meaning:

abound in

abound with

cater for

cater to

conform to

conform with

contribute to

contribute towards

depend on

depend upon

dote on

dote upon

embark on

embark upon

end in

end with

engage in

engage on

enthuse about

enthuse over

gravitate to

gravitate towards

hunger after

hunger for

improve on

improve upon

liaise between