| Understanding
Verbs: Transitive versus Intransitive
A complete sentence consists of a subject and a predicate.
The part of the sentence that we will discuss today is the predicate.
The predicate of a sentence contains the sentence’s verb phrase.
Verbs may interact with the rest of the predicate that follows the
verbs in the sentence in one of two ways, and they are classified
as transitive or intransitive according to this interaction. Generally,
this interaction has much to do with whether the sentence has a direct
object.
The direct object is the word or phrase in a sentence that follows
the verb and receives the verb’s action. Verbs which require
a direct object to succeed them unless they are made passive are called
transitive verbs, while verbs which require no direct object and cannot
be made passive are called intransitive verbs. Let’s take a
look at some examples:
Note that the first sentence is active. In this sentence
Edison is the subject, the person or thing that the rest of the sentence
is about, while invented functions as a transitive verb which must
be followed by a direct object. In this case, it is the light bulb.
The second example differs because it has been made passive. The former
direct object, light bulb is now the subject, while was invented is
the verb and by Thomas Edison in 1897, a prepositional phrase, follows
it. In this case, the sentence has no direct object. The fact that
the verb invented can be made passive shows that it is a transitive
verb.
Intransitive
James intruded when he eavesdropped on my conversation.
James intruded.
Note that both sentences are active. James is the subject, the person
or thing that the rest of the sentence is about, while intruded functions
as an intransitive verb. It is not followed by a direct object, but
instead it is followed by a prepositional phrase (when he eavesdropped).
However, note that the verb intruded, since it is intransitive, does
not necessarily need anything to follow it at all. Although the second
sentence, James intruded, provides little detail, it is grammatically
correct because the verb is intransitive and does not have to be followed
by anything.
Some verbs are both transitive and intransitive, depending on the
sentence that they appear in. Let’s take a look at some examples:
James committed a robbery on Highway 59.
Although I’m interested in the event, I cannot commit at this
time.
In the first example, committed is a transitive verb and Its meaning
requires an object. It must be followed by a direct object which,
in this case, is robbery. If the sentence were made passive, A
robbery was committed on Highway 59, then the verb could function without
a direct object. This is how we know that, in this case, the verb
is transitive. However, the verb has a different, though related,
meaning in the second example and is intransitive. The speaker says
that he/she cannot commit, but does not explain about what. This verb
is being used in an intransitive manner, and it does not require a
direct object when the sentence is active.
You can test your understanding of this handout by completing Academic
Center exercises available
here.
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