Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs -- Huh?


Some verbs take a direct object. (Transitive) They do something to something.
need       “I need money.”
hit          “I hit the ball.”
kick         “I kicked my brother.”
destroy  “The transformer destroyed the city.
kiss        “I kissed Ernestine.”
The verb “lay” takes a direct object. It is transitive.
      “I carefully laid the beef roast inside the bars of the lion’s cage.”
  [The forms of the verb are lay, laid, has been laying, has laid.]

Some verbs do not take a direct object. (Intransitive)  They just do.
looked     “I looked, but didn’t see anything.” 
slept        “I slept all night.”
The verb “lie” does not take a direct object. 
 [The forms of the verb are lie, lay, has been lying, has lain.]


Some verbs can be either transitive or intransitive: shook, felt, read.


 

Illustrations from  http://funny-cats.blogspot.com/2006/03/cat-kiss.html and http://www.myfreewallpapers.net/cartoons/pages/sleeping-snoopy.shtml
http://www.inspirationfalls.com/beginning-and-ending-shake-hands/shake-hands-concepts-3/