[Grammar] What's the different between "transitive and intransitive verb"?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Destroyer

New member
Joined
Apr 2, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Could you help me; I would really like to just have a moment of your time for my question; thanks.
I appreciate it.
 

tedtmc

Key Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2006
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Malaysia
Current Location
Malaysia
Transitive verb requires an object e.g. enjoy music, read newspaper

Intranstive verb does not require an object e.g. swim, dance, shout.

not a teacher
 

TheParser

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2009
Member Type
Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Could you help me; I would really like to just have a moment of your time for my question; thanks.


I appreciate it.


***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Good morning, Destroyer.

(1) I think that many books explain that a transitive verb requires an actor who does something to the object:

(a) I eat an apple.

(i) I am the actor; I do something to the apple.

(2) An intransitive verb has only an actor.

(a) On the weekends, I don't do anything except eat.

(i) I am the actor, but there is no object.

(3) If you study a good dictionary, you will learn which verbs are usually transitive, intransitive, or both (such as "eat").


(4) This is a pretty difficult matter. For example:

(a) I eat fast. = intransitive. No object. ("fast" is only an adverb telling you how I eat.)

(b) A cookie was eaten. = transitive because:

(i) That is a passive sentence that means something like "I/ you/ he/she ate a cookie."

(a) We have an actor (I/you/she/he).
(b) We have an object (a cookie).

Thank you for the question.
 

BobK

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Location
Spencers Wood, near Reading, UK
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
A t[STRIKE]T[/STRIKE]ransitive verb requires an object e.g. enjoy music, read newspaper

An i[STRIKE]I[/STRIKE]ntransitive verb does not require an object e.g. swim, dance, shout.:?:

not a teacher

Bear in mind that some words can be both. You can both shout and shout a command. You can both dance and dance the tango. You can both swim and swim a mile (though in the last two cases there are arguments for seeing the tango and a mile as adverbial).

When a waiter says Enjoy, some people would say it's 'just wrong, because "enjoy" is transitive'', some people would say there's an implied object [the food], and some people would say it's fine. ;-)

b
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top