Collins Cobuild English Grammar (67 page)

3.22
    Note that even verbs that are almost always followed by an object can occasionally be used without an object. This is possible in very restricted contexts. For example, if you are contrasting two actions, it is not necessary to say what else is involved.

Money markets are the places where people with money
buy
and
sell
.
Some people
build
while others
destroy
.
We
gave
, they
took
.

If you use a list of different verbs for emphasis, you do not need to name the object.

They set out to be rude; to
defy
,
threaten
, or
tease
.

If you repeat a verb in order to contrast it with a similar action, or to emphasize it, the object can be omitted.

She had ceased
to love
as she
had
once
loved
.

3.23
    Verbs that describe feelings and attitudes are sometimes used without an object, particularly in the
to
-infinitive
form. This is because the object is assumed to be people in general. For example,
please
usually requires an object, but you can say
He likes to please
, meaning he likes to please people.

He likes
to shock
.
She was anxious
to please
.
He must be convinced if he is
to convince
.
I have a tendency
to tease
.

reporting verbs

3.24
    There is a large group of verbs, such as
say
,
suggest
, and
think
, which are used to report what people say or think. They are called
reporting verbs
. They are followed by a
that
-clause which is called the
reported clause
.

She
said
that she would come.

The reported clause is often thought of as being an object, and so these verbs are usually said to be transitive verbs. In this book, reporting verbs are explained in
Chapter 7
.

Reporting verbs such as
advise
and
persuade
, which have an object that refers to the person being addressed, are explained in paragraphs
7.75
and
7.76
.

Some reporting verbs can take as their object a noun such as
question
or
story
that refers to something that is said or written. These verbs are listed in paragraph
7.82
. Some take an object that refers to an event or fact, and is therefore closely related to a
that
-clause. These are listed in paragraph
7.83
.

Verbs such as
believe
and
know
that can be used as reporting verbs, but that are ordinary transitive verbs when used with another common meaning, are included in the lists of transitive verbs given above.

3.25
    Most transitive verbs can be used in the passive. See paragraphs
9.9
to
9.21
.

Reflexive verbs: verbs where the object refers back to the subject

BE CREATIVE

3.26
    If you want to talk about a situation where the same person is involved as both the subject and the object of an action, you use a
reflexive pronoun
as the object of a clause. For example, it is common to blame someone else if something goes wrong, but you say
I blame myself for what happened
if you think that the mistake was your own fault.

Although a few verbs are typically used with reflexive pronouns, you can actually use a reflexive pronoun as the object of any transitive verb, when the meaning allows you to do so.

I
blame myself
for not paying attention.
She
freed herself
from my embrace.
After the meeting, he
introduced himself
to me.
Why not buy a book and
teach yourself
?
Don’t deceive yourself
.
We
must ask ourselves
several questions.
Every country has the right to
defend itself
.

Reflexive pronouns
are explained in paragraphs
1.111
to
1.118
.

true reflexive verbs

3.27
    Note that the verbs
busy
,
content
, and
pride
are true reflexive verbs: they must be used with a reflexive pronoun.

He
had busied himself
in the laboratory.
Many scholars
contented themselves
with writing textbooks.
He
prides himself
on his tidiness.

3.28
    Another small group of verbs only take an object that refers to a person when the object is a reflexive pronoun. For example, you can
express an opinion
and you can
express yourself
(meaning that you can put ideas into words), but you cannot
express a person
.

Professor Baxendale
expressed himself
very forcibly.
She
enjoyed herself
enormously.
He
applied himself
to learning how Parliament worked.

Here is a list of verbs that take a reflexive pronoun as their object when you refer to a person:

apply

compose

distance

enjoy

excel

exert

express

strain

reflexive pronouns used for emphasis

3.29
    Some verbs that normally do not have objects, because they involve only the performer of the action, can have a reflexive pronoun as their object if you want to emphasize that the subject is doing something that affects himself or herself. You can therefore say
Bill washed himself
rather than
Bill washed
.

I always
wash
five times a day.
Children were encouraged to
wash themselves
.
I stood in the kitchen while he
shaved
.
He prefers to
shave himself
before breakfast.
Ashton
had behaved
abominably.
He is old enough to
behave himself
.
Successful companies know how to
adapt
to change.
You’ve got to be willing to
adapt yourself
.

Here is a list of verbs that have senses in which you can use a reflexive pronoun for emphasis:

acclimatize

adapt

behave

commit

dress

hide

move

readjust

shave

undress

wash

BE CAREFUL

3.30
    Note that reflexive pronouns are not used as much in English as in some other languages when talking about actions that you do to yourself. As mentioned above, you would usually say
I washed
rather than
I washed myself
in English. Sometimes a noun with a possessive is used instead. For example, you would say
I combed my hair
rather than
I combed myself
.

3.31
    Note that reflexive verbs are not used in the passive.

Delexical verbs: verbs with little meaning

3.32
    There are some very common verbs that are used with nouns as their object to show simply that someone performs an action, not that someone affects or creates something. These verbs have very little meaning when they are used in this way.

For example,
had
in
She had a shower
has very little meaning in itself. Most of the meaning of the sentence is carried by the noun
shower
.

We
were having a joke
.
Roger
gave a grin
of sheer delight.
He
took a step
towards Jack.

verbs that are often delexical

3.33
    This section focuses on the very common verbs that are used in this transitive structure. They are called
delexical verbs
.

Here is a list of verbs that are used as delexical verbs. The first four are very commonly used in this way.

give

have

make

take

~

do

hold

keep

set

Note that
have got
is not used as a delexical verb.

Structures containing delexical verbs are very common in English. Although the total number of delexical verbs is small, it includes some of the most common words in the language.