Transitive Intransitive Verbs

SRI AUROBINDO PUBLIC SCHOOL
CLASS- VIII
SUBJECT- ENGLISH
TOPIC-TRANSITIVE INTRANSITIVE VERBS
Transitive Verbs
Verbs that take objects are called transitive verbs. The sentences that
use transitive verbs are incomplete without objects.
Example –
Harish built a new house.
(subject)+(verb)+(object).
Just Harish built would be incomplete. The sentence is incomplete in

meaning if we don’t add an object. So, built is a transitive verb.
Sandra kicked the ball.
(subject)+(verb)+(object).
The object of the verb kick in the above sentence is the ball.
Transitive verbs like kick are common in English. They describe
actions that can be done to something. For example,
She bought the cake.
She caught the ball.
He has found a problem.
He will take a train.
He is reading a letter.
Hint: Think of ‘transitive’ as a verb that can be ‘transferred’ to an
object. If it can take an object, it can be used as a transitive verb.
Some sentences have one object while some have two.
Transitive verbs which require one object are called monotransitive

verbs.
E.g.- Kshamata told a story.
Here, a story is direct object which answers the question: what?

(What did Kshamata tell? a story- Direct Object)
Transitive verbs which require two objects are called ditransitive

verbs.
E.g.- Kshamata told me a story.
Here, a story is direct object which answers the question: what?

(What did Kshamata tell? a story- Direct Object) whereas us is
indirect object
which answers the question: to whom (To whom did Kshamata tell a
story? – to us. us-Indirect object)
Harsh saw a tree.
saw- Transitive Verb, a tree- Direct object
Mother gave me a chapatti.
gave- Transitive Verb , a chapatti- Direct object, me- Indirect object

Intransitive Verbs
Verbs that do not take objects are called intransitive verbs.
E.g.
People sleep.
(subject)+(verb).
In this example, there is only a subject (the person doing the action)

and a verb. There is no object.
They are of two types:
Verbs of action (doing) and verbs of being
Verbs of action
Look at the following sentence.
The telephone rang.
The verb, rang, in this sentence
● indicates an action and is called a verb of action.

● is complete in itself, and therefore, does not need an object.
Hence, this is an intransitive verb.
Others verbs of action such as smile look, die, laugh, roar and cry are
example of intransitive verbs.
Verbs of being
Look at the following sentence.
The lotus is the national flower of India.
The lotus- subject

is- verb
the national flower of India- complement.
In the above sentence
● the verb, is, expresses a state of being and is called a verb of

being.
● the sentence doesn’t require any object but it requires
complement to complete the meaning of the sentence.
Other verbs of being such as are, am, was, were etc, take
complements to make complete sense,
Identifying Intransitive and Transitive Verbs
To know if the verb in a sentence is transitive, you need to see if the

verb has an object in the sentence. To do that,
ask What the subject did with the verb. For example:
She opened the door. > She opened what? = the door. ‘The door’ is
an object, so we know the verb is used transitively.
The manager will close the store early. > The manager will

close what? = the store. This means the verb is transitive.
The children sat. > The children sat what? = ?? This question doesn’t
make sense. You cannot sit something because sit is only
an intransitive verb.
Note that not everything that comes after a verb is an object. Compare

these two sentences:
The children sat. (Intransitive — the verb sat has no object)
The children sat in chairs. (Intransitive — in is a preposition, so in

chairs is a prepositional phrase that describes where the children sat; it
does not tell you what the children sat.)
The children sat happily in chairs with their friends. (Intransitive,

again. Here, happily is an adverb describing how they sat, and in
chairs and with their friends are phrases started with prepositions.)
QUESTIION-: State whether the verb is used transitively or

intransitively in the following sentences.
1. The wind is moving the curtain.
(Transitive/Intransitive; Verb: _________________; Object:

________________)
2. The wind is blowing fiercely.

________________)
3. Somebody opened the door.

________________)
4. Suddenly the door opened.

________________)
5. He slammed the door shut.

________________)
6. Your book is selling well.

________________)
7. The boy went to the park.

________________)
8. He can’t stand his mother-in-law.

________________)
9. I like climbing mountains.

________________)
10. I am going to buy her some flowers.

________________)
11. I have invited my friends.

________________)
12. I don’t sleep very well.

________________)
13. She sat on the bench.

________________)
14. We have lost.

________________)
15. Our team lost the match.

________________)
16. The car may need a new battery.

________________)
17. . The boy went to the park.

________________)
18.We ought to visit them this weekend.

________________)
19. We can no longer wait.

________________)
20.. Priya asked me a question .

________________)
21.My sister found me a nice file. .

________________)
22. It is raining.

________________)
23. Sonali sang the baby a song.

________________)

Transitive Intransitive Verbs

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Transitive Intransitive Verbs

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SRI AUROBINDO PUBLIC SCHOOL

Harish built a new house.

Just Harish built would be incomplete. The sentence is incomplete in

Some sentences have one object while some have two.

Transitive verbs which require one object are called monotransitive

E.g.- Kshamata told a story.

Here, a story is direct object which answers the question: what?

Transitive verbs which require two objects are called ditransitive

E.g.- Kshamata told me a story.

Here, a story is direct object which answers the question: what?

Harsh saw a tree.

saw- Transitive Verb, a tree- Direct object

Mother gave me a chapatti.

gave- Transitive Verb , a chapatti- Direct object, me- Indirect object

Verbs that do not take objects are called intransitive verbs.

In this example, there is only a subject (the person doing the action)

They are of two types:

Verbs of action (doing) and verbs of being

Look at the following sentence.

The telephone rang.

The verb, rang, in this sentence

● indicates an action and is called a verb of action.

Hence, this is an intransitive verb.

Look at the following sentence.

The lotus is the national flower of India.

The lotus- subject

the national flower of India- complement.

In the above sentence

● the verb, is, expresses a state of being and is called a verb of

Identifying Intransitive and Transitive Verbs

To know if the verb in a sentence is transitive, you need to see if the

The manager will close the store early. > The manager will

Note that not everything that comes after a verb is an object. Compare

The children sat in chairs. (Intransitive — in is a preposition, so in

The children sat happily in chairs with their friends. (Intransitive,

QUESTIION-: State whether the verb is used transitively or

1. The wind is moving the curtain.

(Transitive/Intransitive; Verb: _________________; Object:

2. The wind is blowing fiercely.

(Transitive/Intransitive; Verb: _________________; Object:

3. Somebody opened the door.

(Transitive/Intransitive; Verb: _________________; Object:

4. Suddenly the door opened.

(Transitive/Intransitive; Verb: _________________; Object:

5. He slammed the door shut.

(Transitive/Intransitive; Verb: _________________; Object:

(Transitive/Intransitive; Verb: _________________; Object:

7. The boy went to the park.

(Transitive/Intransitive; Verb: _________________; Object:

8. He can’t stand his mother-in-law.

(Transitive/Intransitive; Verb: _________________; Object:

9. I like climbing mountains.

(Transitive/Intransitive; Verb: _________________; Object:

10. I am going to buy her some flowers.

(Transitive/Intransitive; Verb: _________________; Object:

11. I have invited my friends.

(Transitive/Intransitive; Verb: _________________; Object:

12. I don’t sleep very well.

(Transitive/Intransitive; Verb: _________________; Object:

13. She sat on the bench.

14. We have lost.

(Transitive/Intransitive; Verb: _________________; Object:

15. Our team lost the match.