how to tell if intransitive or transitive?
***** NOT A TEACHER / ONLY MY OPINION
Spirtmunglar,
I think that most books tell us that a transitive verb
has an
object (a something):
I eat
vegetables.
But if you just say "I eat," there is no object, so they would call
"eat" in that sentence an
intransitive (not transitive) verb.
Read the following sentence. Is "eat" transitive or intransitive:
I eat every day.
You are correct. It is intransitive because there is no object.
There is no "something" that I eat. (Of course, "every day" is
not an object. It just tells you when I eat.)
Please identify the following as either transitive or intransitive verbs:
1. I bought a suit . ____
2. She lived many years. ____
3. She lived a good life. ____
4. The sun shone brightly yesterday. ____
5. Please shine your shoes right now!!! ____
6. Tom cooked breakfast. ____
7. Tom was cooking when the phone rang. ___
Answers:
(1) transitive (object is "suit"). (2) intransitive (no object).
(3) transitive (object is "a good life") (4) intransitive (no object).
(5)transitive (object is "your shoes"). (6)transitive (object is
"breakfast"). (7) intransitive (no object).
If you have any questions, just post them here. The excellent teachers
will answer you, and sometimes non-teachers (like me) will also answer
if we
think that our answers are accurate.
Thank you
P. S. I wish to credit
The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar for some
of this information.
