Why are Ergatives tricky to acquire ? : insights into Algerian undergraduates' use of ergatives

الملخص EN

English ergative verbs, also referred to as ergatives, have been classified as one of the trickiest grammatical areas, even to very advanced students from various first language backgrounds, including Arab learners.

this paper aims at getting insights into students’ awareness about using this class of verbs which has a special status in pedagogical grammar.

an empirical study was undertaken in order to explore whether the students at the department of letters and English, Frères Mentouri university, constantine1, are aware of ergative verbs and their distinctive properties.

the analysis of the results has revealed that this class of verbs has created to the students two learnability problems : one is related to the first type of ergative verbs (typical ergatives), and the other problem to the second type (ergatives in the broad sense).

on the basis of such findings, recommendations are put forward in order to address the problems encountered by students with both types of ergative verbs.