In these examples the intransitive and transitive verbs are in bold. Transitive verbs are not just verbs that can take an object, as they need objects. An intransitive verb is the opposite of a transitive verb: It doesn't require an object to act upon. What are intransitive and transitive verbs? Firstly, verbs are either intransitive and transitive. The third and last type of transitive verb is the so-called 'Vc two-place transitive.' With such verbs, the action actually takes place within the subject or doer of the action, or is done to the subject itself, then is transmitted to the direct object, as in 'They considered the rebellion a lost cause' and 'Factual errors like this make the editors extremely suspicious.Intransitive and Transitive Verb Examples: What are Intransitive Verbs? This verb type is the 'Vg two-place transitive,' which first acts on the direct object, then transmits the result of the action to the indirect object, as in 'He buys her diamonds' and 'She brings him apples.' The indirect objects are the pronouns 'her' and 'him' the direct objects are 'diamonds' and 'apples.' In such sentences the indirect objects are optional the sentences work perfectly even with only the direct object around. Moreover, some transitive verbs not only require a direct object but may also take an indirect object, or a grammatical entity that represents a secondary goal of the verb's action. Verbs that require only a direct object to work properly are called 'one-place transitives,' as the verbs in 'The woman received the letter' and 'Typhoons damage infrastructure.' When we drop the direct objects 'letter' and 'infrastructure,' with nothing receiving the verb's action anymore, all such one-place transitive sentences become nonsensical: 'The woman received.' 'Typhoons damage.' No direct object, no sentence.

The basic requirement of transitivity, in fact, is that the subject of the sentence - drawing power from the verb - must be able to act on this direct object. This time, for the sentence to work properly, all it needs is to provide an object to receive the verb's action directly. By signing up with an email address, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.Īs most of us know now, it's an altogether different matter when a verb is of the transitive kind.

What is transitive verb