John broke the vase = The vase broke.

Question

1. John broke the vase

2. The vase broke.

3. Mary read the book.

4. The book read.

According to my book, the sentence 1 and 2 is acceptable(ergative verb?) while 4 which look similar to 2 is wrong.

This make me very difficult again;;

Is 4 wrong because it is meant to be 'The book is read?'

Dimsumexpress · Accepted Answer

This is my opinion:

1. John broke the vase- Yes, it's an active simple past sentence.

2. The vase broke. - People use it in casual conversation which is technically incorrect to me. A vase simple just doesn't break by itself. If this sentence is to mean that it's in the state of being "shuttered to pieces", you need to say "the vase is broken". Broken - is a passive participle used as adjective.

3. Mary read the book. Yes, it's a simple past tense.

4. The book read. - No, it's incorrect.

Mister Micawber · Answer

Re #4: [url=http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/verbs/reflexive-and-ergative-verbs]ERGATIVE[/url] verbs such as 'break' in 'The vase broke' are common and correct. They are verbs which are both transitive and intransitive (I believe some grammarians call them 'middle verbs'). However, they are a limited set; certainly not all verbs work that way, and 'read' is not one of them.

CalifJim · Answer

moon7296This make me very difficult again

You have used this phrasing in many posts, but it's not correct. You need this: This is very difficult for me.

__________________

moon72961. John broke the vase
2. The vase broke.
3. Mary read the book.
4. The book read.

There is no way to predict that a person can break something, a thing can break, a person can read, but no thing can read. You just have to learn which verbs can be used in each way. One guideline worth considering is that many of the verbs which can be used both ways are verbs of change of state or change of position.

We crumbled the cookies. = We caused the cookies to crumble.
The cookies crumbled.

They tore the shirt. = They caused the shirt to tear.
The shirt tore.

He rolled the ball. = He caused the ball to roll.
The ball rolled.

We bent the metal wire. = We caused the metal wire to bend.
The metal wire bent.

Mary read the book cannot mean Mary caused the book to read, so the corresponding The book read doesn't make sense.

CJ

Moon7296 · Answer

Wow, thank you a lot for nicely patterned examples!! (correcting phrasing too^^)

I wrote them down in my notebook because they can be used when an exam question asks this

CalifJim · Answer

moon7296exam question

Good luck!

CJ

John broke the vase => The vase broke.

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