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Intransitive Verbs:
I laughed.
He's sleeping.
The book fell off the table.
An error message appeared on the screen.
She arrived in the morning.
Transitive Verbs
I told a joke.
He's fixing the car.
I dropped the book on the floor.
I restarted my computer.
She gave me a birthday present.
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The difference is that transitive verbs have an object - a person or thing that
receives the action; the action is done to it - and intransitive verbs do not.
Intransitive verbs involve the subject only.
He's sleeping.
He = subject
sleeping = intransitive verb
Some transitive verbs have two objects - a direct object (the action is done to it)
and an indirect object (receives the action):
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I'm looking for a new bicycle. Where did you buy yours?
yours = possessive
She cried.
She cried on my shoulder.
She cried noisily.
I agree.
I agree with you.
I agree completely.
We waited.
We waited for two hours.
We waited patiently.
Sometimes, students make the mistake of forgetting the object after a transitive verb
– this makes the sentence sound incomplete and unnatural in English. One way to
test your sentence is to ask "...what?" immediately after the verb. If there is an
answer to that question, then say the object or substitute it with a pronoun:
We bought.
Bought what???
We bought a car.
They're taking.
Taking what???
They're taking a trip.
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An accident has happened.
Happened what?
No answer - happened is intransitive - this sentence is OK.
She's reading.
She's reading a book.
I understand.
I understand the lesson.
So how can you tell if a verb needs an object or not? You can check to see if the
sentence makes sense by itself, or if there appears to be something missing (the
"what" after the verb). For example:
He sold.
Sold what?
He sold his car. (sold = transitive)
We ended.
Ended what? Clearly, we cannot "end" ourselves
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We ended the meeting at 4:30.
ended = transitive in this case
He bought me a necklace.
However, it is possible to say the direct object first if we add to or for before the
indirect object (the recipient/beneficiary):
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We showed the pictures to Rachel.
We often put the indirect object last when the indirect object is long, not just one or
two words:
Now, the big question is when to use to and when to use for. The rule is fairly
simple:
You can remember this because both TO and TRANSFER start with "T."
Verbs that tend to be followed by to + indirect object include give, hand, lend, offer,
pass, promise, show, teach, tell, and throw.
Verbs that tend to be followed by for + indirect object include build, buy, choose,
cook, find, get, make, order, pour, and save.
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Special Cases
Some verbs can ONLY be used in a certain sequence -
either:
The verbs allow, ask, cost, deny, envy, forgive, permit, and refuse MUST be
followed immediately by the indirect object; you cannot use "to" with these verbs:
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8. The suspect proved her innocence to the judge.
9. I suggested for him a good book to read.
10. The surgery cost me $10,000.
Summary
Transitive verbs have an object (person/thing that the action is done to) -
Ex) He's fixing the car.
Intransitive verbs do not have an object - Ex) He's sleeping.
Transitive verbs can be followed by a noun, pronoun, or possessive
Intransitive verbs can be followed by nothing, or by a prepositional
phrase or adverb
To check if a verb needs an object, ask "What?" after the verb and see if the
sentence sounds incomplete without an object
For verbs with two objects, we can say them two ways - We gave her the keys.
/ We gave the keys to her.
When the indirect object (the recipient) is long, we usually put it at the end.
To suggests a direct transfer of the object to the recipient; for suggests the
recipient benefits from the action
A handful of verbs can ONLY have the order of their objects be one way, but
not the other. You simply have to remember these on a case-by-case basis.
You’ve finished Lesson 11! Now try the exercises for more practice with verbs and
their objects.
Writing Task
Write about either the best gift you have ever received, or the best gift you have ever
given. What was it, and why was it so meaningful?
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Answers to the exercises inside the lesson
Put it into practice 1:
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Quiz – Lesson 11
Transitive/Intransitive Verbs + Objects
Exercise 1: If the verb is transitive, add an appropriate pronoun (him, her, me, you,
us, them, it). If it is intransitive, leave the space blank.
Ex) Gary has been accused of fraud. The police arrested __him__ last week.
Ex) She’s a great swimmer. She swam ____________ across the lake and back again.
No pronoun needed. “Swim” involves only the subject (she); there is no object.
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Exercise 2: Complete each sentence with one pair of words below, in the correct
order, and add “to” or “for” if necessary. Sometimes more than one answer is
possible.
2. I'm not happy with our local politician. I'm going to write _______________________.
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Answers – Quiz – Lesson 11
Exercise 1:
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Exercise 2:
1. After the assault, she described the attacker to the police officer.
2. I'm not happy with our local politician. I'm going to write her a letter.
3. Jack will be late to the party. Let's save him a piece of cake.
(or: showed a demo of the product to us – but the first way is more common)
(or: passed the goalkeeper the ball – but the first way is more common)
9. The reporter asked the actress some questions about her latest movie.
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© Shayna Oliveira 2014