Expression: "The blow fainted him."

[Tom]

Hi

Can we or a blow or some bad news "faint" somebody? For example:

[MrPedantic]

Hello Tom,

That wouldn't be idiomatic; but you could say:

1. The blow made him faint.

MrP

[Tom]

Many thanks, MrPedantic.

Could you please discuss the rest of the question? The two kinds of verbs which are very important at least for non-native speakers of English.

[MrPedantic]

Hello Tom,

Unfortunately there is some dispute among linguists as to the proper term for verbs of that kind.

Here are the terms I find most useful:

1. Ambitransitive – a verb that may be used both transitively and intransitively.

2. Common ambitransitive – an ambitransitive where the subject remains the same, in the transitive and intransitive forms, e.g.

a) I read for an hour or two (intrans.)
b) I read a book for an hour or two (trans.)

3. Alternating ambitransitive – an ambitransitive where the object in the transitive form becomes the subject in the intransitive form, e.g.

a) The sun melted the ice (trans.)
b) The ice melted (intrans.)

(Other members may favour other terms, such as "middle voice" and "ergative".)

Your teacher's example, "the mother is sleeping the baby", sounds strange to me; if I heard it from a native speaker, I would assume it was a regional or dialect usage (or perhaps a whimsical coinage of the speaker's).

All the best,

MrP

[Tom]

[Yankee]

Hi Tom

Yes, that seems to be what you're driving at.

You can find a list of some ergative verbs here. It may prove helpful for you.

I'd suggest trying to create some (more) sentences of your own and then posting them for comment. Try using the verbs in different ways. For example, here are some different ways to use the verbs increase and shake:

- Mr. Brown increased inventory levels across the board.
- Inventory levels were increased (by Mr. Brown).
- Inventory levels increased.

- The earthquake shook the house violently.
- The house shook violently.
.

[MrPedantic]