middle verb

English

Examples (grammar)
I read the book (transitive, expressing an action) The book reads well (intransitive, expressing a state)

Noun

middle verb (plural middle verbs)

1. (grammar) A verb which expresses an action when used transitively and a state when used intransitively.
   • 2005, Geert Booij, The Grammar of Words: An Introduction to Linguistic Morphology, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 60:

     Formation of the middle verbs mentioned above illustrates that derivational processes are used to create specific subclasses of verbs. Middle verbs in English are intransitive verbs, whereas their base verbs are transitive, that is, require a direct object to be present. Middle verb formation is therefore a case of change in syntactic valency.

See also

• middle voice