VERB-NOUN

RESTRICTIONS
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
 VERBS

• Verbs are a complex and vital part of speech. There are several
categories of verbs, but we’ll be going over two in
particular: transitive and intransitive verbs.
 TRANSITIVE VERBS
• Transitive verbs are verbs that require a direct object. Without a direct
object, the sentence would leave readers confused and with
questions. The direct object usually comes right after the verb.
• Imagine that I say: I bought.
Why is this sentence incomplete?
Because BOUGHT (the past of buy) is a transitive verb and a
transitive verb needs an object after it to complete the sentence. The
object after a transitive verb can be a noun or a pronoun.
 DIRECT OBJECT

• A direct object is a noun or pronoun that directly receives the action of

a verb. A good way to find a direct object in a sentence is to find the
verb and then ask the question who or what.
Example: “Jake threw the ball.”
The object in this sentence, which we identified as ball, is a direct object.
If we look at the verb (threw) and ask “who/what is being thrown,” the
answer is ball.
Remember, only nouns, pronouns, and noun phrases can be direct
objects. Prepositional phrases, adjectives, and adverbs cannot be used
as direct objects
 Transitive Verbs—Examples

• Maria peeled the potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner.

• I wanted to empower the students.
• Let’s carry these bags across the bridge.
• Our group discussed strategies that can help improve
performance.
• Luis brought the book I asked for.
 Transitive Verbs – Passive Form

• Transitive verbs can have a passive form.

Active: Subject + transitive verb + object
Passive: Object + was/were + transitive verb (+ by subject)
• Thieves stole his car. (active)
• His car was stolen. (passive)
• Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. (active)
• The light bulb was invented by Thomas Edison. (passive)
• They sold some books. (active)
• Some books were sold. (passive)
 INTRANSITIVE VERBS

• Intransitive verbs don’t require a direct object to express a

complete thought. Take a look at the following example:
The team persevered.
• This sentence is complete, even without a direct
object after it.
• A sentence that contains an intransitive verb with a direct
object immediately after it wouldn’t make sense. There must
be a preposition or prepositional phrase between
the intransitive verb and noun phrase.
• Terry voted.
• Terry voted in the elections.
 EXAMPLE

The apple fell from the tree.

• You cannot “fall something” so the verb is intransitive.
“From the tree” is not an object, it is an adverbial phrase ( = it acts like
an adverb and tells us where it happened).
 Example sentences using INTRANSITIVE verbs

1. We arrived around midday.

2. She sneezed loudly.
3. Your baby cries a lot.
4. His grandfather died last year.
5. The rain fell heavily.
6. I was waiting but nothing happened.
7. The jokes were not funny and nobody laughed.
8. I walk to work every day.
9. We sat on the bench.
10.He stood in the corner.
11.We waited but nobody came.
 Talking about events which involve only the
subject: Intransitive verb

• When you are talking about an action or event that does not involve anyone
or anything other than the subject, you use an intransitive verb.
• Example:
My tooth ached.
The situation deteriorated.
• Many intransitive verbs describe physical behavior or
the making of sounds.
Example:
• Bobby coughed.
• The old woman wept quietly.
• The gate squeaked.
 Verbs that are both transitive and
intransitive

• Change - of state verbs where the direct object in the transitive verb is the
subject of the intransitive one.
Examples:
• John opened the door. The door opened.
• Inflation increased the prices. Prices increased.
• Transitive verbs that permits surface deletion of
recoverable, understood object.

Examples:
• Billy smokes cigarettes. Billy smokes.
• Harry drinks water. Harry drinks.
 Example sentences of verbs that are both
transitive and intransitive

 I stopped the car. – The car stopped.

 I broke my coffee mug. – My coffee mug broke.
 The summer heat melted my ice cream. – My ice cream melted.
 She speaks Arabic. – She speaks very quickly.
 Mike is reading a book. – Mike is reading.
 New Zealand won the match. – New Zealand won.
• A good dictionary will tell you whether a verb is transitive (usually vt. or tr. next
to the verb in dictionaries) or intransitive (vi. or intr.)
Instruction: Go through the sentences and identify the transitive and intransitive
verbs.

• 1. I like all of Katy Perry’s songs.

• 2. New Delhi is the capital of India.
• 3. Billie Eilish is a singer.
• 4. Will built a doll house for his eight-year-old daughter.
• 5. I ate a sandwich for breakfast.
• 6. All of them danced at my wedding party.
• 7. The mosquito bat does not seem to be working.
• 8. No tomato is ripe.
• 9. Sherin bought a phone for her mother.
• 10. The teapoy broke all of a sudden.
11. Noel brought a bottle of wine for dinner.
12. Srilakshmi and Vinod love watching feel-good movies.
13. The footballs and basketballs are kept in the third cupboard.
14. They purchased a new TV.
15. Heera lost her favourite black bag.
16. It was raining until a few hours back.
17. There are exactly 150 juice packs.
18. The cat chased the mouse around the house.
19. The doctors helped the patients in need.
20. Marley found the solution to the problem.