Shirk

[arzgol]

The man is unhappy working with a partner who shirks from his dueties.

The verb ''shirk'' should be used without a preposition. Am I right?

Thank you for your response.

 

[5jj]

The man is unhappy working with a partner who shirks [STRIKE]from[/STRIKE] his du[STRIKE]e[/STRIKE]ties.

The verb ''shirk'' should be used without a preposition. Am I right?

Yes

 

[BobK]

:up: Perhaps the errant 'from' comes from false analogy with 'shrink from'...:-? (To shrink from doing something is to avoid or be slow to do it not from laziness but from fear, loathing, or disgust.)

I often see 'shirk' used intransitively, so the choice of preposition isn't an issue: 'Nobody likes a team member who shirks'.

b

 

[arzgol]

Sorry, you didn't hit the nail on the head this time. I made a mistake because in Farsi we use the preposition ''from'' , similarly '' be agree with''! In my sentence, I meant ''shirk'', ''He is unhappy working with a partner who shirks his dueties''. But, you made a good point. Thank you, I've learned something. I looked ''shrink from'' up in my Longman dictionary. It means to avoid doing something difficult or unpleasant : The leadership too often shrinks from hard decisions.
But ''Shirk'' means to deliberately avoid doing something you should do, because you are lazy : He was fired for shirking.
　
　

 

[suprunp]

Do we say "He shirks from carrying out his duties"?

Thanks.

 

[Rover_KE]

Do we say "He shirks from carrying out his duties"?

No.

5jj confirmed in message #2 that shirk is not used with a preposition.

Rover

 

[suprunp]

Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary.

Shirk
shirks, shirking, shirked
VERB: usu with neg

[V n] We in the Congress have our role to play, and we can't shirk our responsibility...
[V from -ing/n] The Government will not shirk from considering the need for further action. [Also V]

Is this a mistake?

Thanks.

 

[Rover_KE]

No. I can't argue with that.

Rover

 

[5jj]

When I read that dictionary entry, I wondered for a moment whether I had made a mistake. However, 97% of COCA's 346 examples of all forms of SHIRK in use do not contain 'from', so it' seems to be pretty uncommon.