Is "camp" a transitive verb?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

There were a lot of people camped there.
Is the above sentence acceptable to native speakers?

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2

I would have to change this sentence to: “There were a lot of people camping there.”

Using “were” and “camped” in the same sentence won’t work.

You could alternatively change the sentence to:

  • A lot of people camped there.
  • Many people camped there.

Hope this is helpful.

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3

No. The verb camp is not transitive here.
Why not ‘There were a lot of people who had camped there.’?

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4

“Camp” is an intransitive verb. It doesn’t take an object.
They camped themselves by the river.

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5

‘Camp’ can be used transitively when you are suggesting that someone has been put into a camp. In the sentence quoted the meaning is not that a lot of people have set up camp there but they have forcibly been put into camps there.

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6

Hi Alan, thanks a lot for shedding some light on this interesting question. So, the structure of the sentence would be similar to the following example, right?

There were a lot of people jailed there.

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7

Exactly my point, Torsten.

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