Identify if the sentence is transitive or intransitive.

[Niranjan Krishnamoorthi]

Transitive verb is defined as a verb passing the action to an object, so in the sentence "I like her." isn't it intransitive sentence as there is no action that is passed.

 

[riquecohen]

Verbs may be transitive or intransitive. These terms do not apply to sentences. A transitive verb acts upon or is directed towards an object. I (subject) like (transitive verb) her (object). The "like" is directed towards "her."

 

[Niranjan Krishnamoorthi]

Sorry, what I wanted to ask was isn't like an intransitive verb because it is not passing the action to her.

 

[MikeNewYork]

"Like" is clearly a transitive verb there.

 

[Rover_KE]

Forget about 'passing the action'.

 

[tedmc]

You have to like something; that 'something' is the object.

not a teacher

 

[Tdol]

Sorry, what I wanted to ask was isn't like an intransitive verb because it is not passing the action to her.

There's no grammatical difference between liking her and kicking a ball. If you kick a ball, you don't transfer the action to the ball - it doesn't kick anyone afterwards - but you do affect the ball by your action. In the same way, you could argue that by liking someone, you affect their popularity. And remember that verbs are not only for actions- they describe other things like states too.

 

[emsr2d2]

As riquecohen said "A transitive verb acts upon or is directed towards an object". In "I like her", the "like" is directed towards "her".

"Like" is a transitive verb. We can't say "I like" or "He likes" as a standalone sentence. An object must come after it, therefore it is transitive.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I am aware of one intransitive use of "like". "if you like, we can go to the park later."