Collins Cobuild English Grammar (66 page)

provide

raise

reach

receive

recommend

record

release

remember

remove

rent

report

respect

reveal

risk

see

seek

sell

shock

specify

spot

support

take

tease

test

threaten

trust

upset

use

value

want

waste

wear

welcome

Note that
do
and
have
are also very often used as
auxiliaries
. See the Reference Section for this use.

Have got
and
has got
are often used instead of the present tense of
have
when talking about possession. The forms of
have
behave like auxiliaries when used like this before
got
.

I’
ve got
an umbrella.
She’
s got
a degree.

Measure
and
weigh
are sometimes considered to be transitive verbs when used to state measurements and weights. This use is explained in paragraph
2.252
.
Cost
is used to state the cost of something, as in
An adult ticket costs 90p
.

human objects

3.17
    When you are talking about something that affects a person rather than a thing, it is normal in English to say who that person is. Therefore, verbs such as
anger
,
thank
, and
warn
, which involve affecting people, usually have a human object.

I tried to
comfort
her.
Her sudden death
had surprised
everybody.
Blue
suits
you.
Money did not
interest
him very much.
Lebel
briefed
Caron on the events of the afternoon.

3.18
    Here is a list of verbs that usually have a human object:

anger

brief

comfort

contact

frighten

interest

suit

surprise

tease

thank

trouble

warn

transitive verbs that need to be followed by an adverb or prepositional phrase

3.19
    With some transitive verbs, you have to give additional information about what is going on by using an adverb or prepositional phrase after the object.

Some verbs typically have a prepositional phrase beginning with a particular preposition after their object.

The judge
based
his decision
on constitutional rights
.
He
had subjected
me
to the pressure of financial ruin
.
My parents still
view
me
as a little boy
.

Here is a list of verbs that always or usually have a particular preposition after their object:

regard as

view as

~

mistake for

swap for

~

dissociate from

prevent from

~

deprive of

remind of

rid of

rob of

~

accustom to

ascribe to

attribute to

compare to

condemn to

confine to

consign to

dedicate to

entitle to

liken to

owe to

return to

subject to

subordinate to

~

acquaint with

associate with

confront with

engrave with

pelt with

ply with

trust with

With the following verbs, there is a choice of preposition:

divide by

divide into

~

incorporate in

incorporate into

~

base on

base upon

lavish on

lavish upon

~

entrust to

entrust with

equate to

equate with

present to

present with

supply to

supply with

3.20
    Other verbs are typically followed by an adverb or prepositional phrase, but not one containing a particular preposition. The adverb or phrase often relates to place.

He
placed
the baby
on the woman’s lap
.
I
positioned
my chair
outside the room
.
He never
puts
anything
away
.
He
treated
his labourers
with kindness
.

Here is a list of verbs that usually have some kind of adverb or prepositional phrase after their object:

bring

chuck

convey

cram

direct

drag

escort

fling

hoist

jab

jot

lay

lead

place

point

position

prop

put

rip

send

set

shove

smear

stick

store

throw

thrust

tie

treat

For more on adverbs and phrases that follow verbs, see
Chapter 6
.

transitive verbs of position and movement

3.21
    Note that some verbs of movement and position are transitive, not intransitive; they are followed by nouns referring to places rather than by adverbs or prepositional phrases. This is because the verbs themselves show that you are talking about movement or position of a particular kind. For example,
enter
implies movement
into
a place and
occupy
implies position
in
a place.

He
approached
the house nervously.
It was dark by the time they
reached
their house.
A small ornamental pool
occupied
the centre of the room.
Everyone had
left
the room.

Here is a list of transitive verbs of movement:

approach

enter

leave

near

reach

round

Here is a list of transitive verbs of position:

cover

crowd

fill

inhabit

occupy

throng

Some verbs of movement can be followed either by a noun phrase or by a prepositional phrase. See paragraph
3.58
.

USAGE NOTE