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I am not sure if I found the right word/verb for what I am trying to say..

Is it ok if I say
" He often involves in trouble/incidents" " He often involves with trouble/incidents"

and another sentence..

" He involved in/with the brawl at the bar somehow last night, so even though he didnt do anything wrong, he had to spend the night in costudy"

Is usage of the verb involve right in these situations..Can I use different verbs?

Thanks..Have a good time

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  • Thanks for your help..I really appreciate it..but what about if we want to use different verb or structure for the same meaning?
    – Murat
    Oct 11, 2014 at 20:38
  • The whole point of using forms like get involved in [some bad behaviour] is that the trouble/incident/brawl was "already there". If the subject gets involved/caught up in a brawl, the implication is he's not entirely to blame (it just happened to him). If you want to explicitly blame him, you'd say he started it.
    – FumbleFingers
    Oct 11, 2014 at 20:45

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Involve is a transitive verb which has to have a direct object e.g. 'He involves his daughter in his business', where 'daughter is the direct object.

If you want to use it in the way you propose you have to use the passive 'He is often involved in incidents'. Saying 'in' incidents, suggests he is part of the 'incidents', whatever they may be. 'With incidents' suggests he may be, for example, a police officer who is sent to investigate 'incidents'.

This distinction is even more marked with your second example. 'He was involved in the incident at the bar last night' suggests he may have been one of the protagonists. 'He was involved with the incident' suggests he was possibly involved in a wider sense, perhaps with help getting matters resolved.

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  • +1 But you might add the possibility of saying He often involves himself in incidents.
    – StoneyB on hiatus
    Oct 11, 2014 at 21:55

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