Transitive or Intransitive? Some Verbs Can Be Both You can’t sneeze something, and you certainly can’t laugh something an object can’t follow these verbs. Two examples of intransitive-only verbs are sneeze and laugh. There are mmany English verbs that can only be intransitive they will never make sense paired with an object. Some imperative forms of verbs can even create intelligible one-word sentences. None of these verbs need an object for the sentence to make sense, and all of them can end a sentence. Intransitive verbs are the opposite of transitive verbs : they do not need an object to act upon. Loves what? Identifying Intransitive Verbs If you took out the objects, the results would be illogical, and your reader would raise questions in their mind for example, Merryl loves. Without an object of some sort, this verb cannot function.īring what? Bring who? The question begs itself because the meaning of bring demands it.īelow are more examples of transitive verbs and their objects.Įxample: The waitress carried water to our table.Īll of the verbs in these sentences have objects that complete the verbs’ actions. In this sentence, the transitive verb is bring and its object is lunch, the thing being brought. Without an object to affect, any sentence that a transitive verb occupies will not appear complete. Transitive verbs aren’t just verbs that can take an object they demand an object. Once you’ve got this concept committed to memory, spotting the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs is relatively simple. In essence, the meaning of transitive is “to affect something else.” A transitive verb must transfer its action to something or someone-an object. A more appropriate word to associate when you see transitive is transfer. However, these terms don’t have anything to do with whether or not a verb is active. The word transitive usually makes people think of transit, which leads to the inaccurate assumption that transitive and intransitive are just ostentatious ways of expressing action and nonaction. Intransitive verbs will make sense without one.

Transitive verbs only make sense if they exert their action on an object.

Transitive or intransitive can describe a verb as based on whether it requires an object to express a complete thought or not.

Transitive or Intransitive? Some Verbs Can Be Both.

What is transitive verb