Editing Object (grammar) (section)

==Verb classes==
Verbs can be classified according to the number and/or type of objects that they do or do not take. The following table provides an overview of some of the various verb classes:<ref>For a classification of transitive verbs along the lines used here but using different terminology, see for instance Conner (1968:103ff.).</ref>

:::::{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Transitive verbs !!  Number of objects !! Examples 
|-  
| Monotransitive || One object || I '''fed''' the dog.
|-
| Ditransitive || Two objects || You '''lent''' me a lawnmower.
|-
| Tritransitive || Three objects || I'll '''trade''' you this bicycle for your binoculars.<ref name="Askedal-2009">{{cite book |last=Mita |first=Ryohei |editor=John Ole Askedal |title=Germanic Languages and Linguistic Universals |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WuD2Szy3TG4C&pg=PA121 |series=The development of the Anglo-Saxon language and linguistic universals, 1 |year=2009 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |isbn=978-90-272-1068-5 |pages=121– |chapter=On Tritransitive Verbs |oclc=901653606 |access-date=22 July 2019}} quoting {{cite book |last1=Huddleston |first1=Rodney |last2=Pullum |first2=Geoffrey K. <!--|coauthors=Laurie Bauer--> |title=The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2yoQhHikxE8C |date=15 April 2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=219 |isbn=978-0-521-43146-0 |oclc=1109226511 |access-date=22 July 2019}}</ref> 
|-
! Intransitive verbs !!  Semantic role of subject !! Examples 
|-
| [[Unaccusative verb|Unaccusative]] || Patient || The man '''stumbled''' twice, The roof '''collapsed'''.
|-
| [[Unergative verb|Unergative]] || Agent || He '''works''' in the morning, They '''lie''' often.
|}

[[Ergative verb|Ergative]]<ref>Concerning ergative verbs, see for instance the Collins Cobuild English Grammar (1995:155f.) and Biber et al. (1999:155f.).</ref> and object-deletion verbs<ref>The term ''object-deletion verb'' is adopted from Biber et al. (1999:147). Such verbs are also called ''ambitransitive''.</ref> can be transitive or intransitive, as indicated in the following table:

::::::::::{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Transitive !! Example
|-
| Ergative || The submarine '''sank''' the freighter.
|-
| Object deletion || We have already '''eaten''' dinner.
|-
! Intransitive !! Example
|-
| Ergative || The freighter '''sank'''.
|-
| Object deletion || We have already '''eaten'''. 
|}

The distinction drawn here between ergative and object-deletion verbs is based on the role of the subject. The object of a transitive ergative verb is the subject of the corresponding intransitive ergative verb. With object-deletion verbs, in contrast, the subject is consistent regardless of whether an object is or is not present.