Transitive and

Intransitive verbs
Nestor Florez
Transitive Verbs
 Transitive verbs are used with or requires an object to express a
complete thought. (direct object)
 He wrote a letter
 He (subject)
 wrote (verb)
 What did he write?
 a letter (direct object)

 Jessica reads a book

 Jessica (subject)
 reads (verb)
 What does Jessica read?
 a book (direct object)
Intransitive Verbs
 Intransitive verbs are used without or do not require an object to
express a complete thought.
 John is sleeping
 John (subject)
 is sleeping (verb)
 What is John sleeping?
 (No direct object)

 The dog ran

 The dog (subject)
 ran (verb)
 What did the dog run?
 (no direct object)
Intransitive Verbs Transitive Verbs
 It’s raining.  It’s raining cats and dogs.
 When he finished the race,  When he finished the race,
he vomited. he vomited up his lunch.
 Water evaporates when it’s  Heat evaporates water.
hot.  He’s been singing
 He’s been singing all day. barbershop all day.
 You’ve grown since I last saw  You’ve grown a beard since I
you. last saw you.

In general, intransitive verbs often involve weather

terms, involuntary processes, states, bodily functions,
motion, actions processes, cognition, sensation, and
emotion.
Ambitransitive Verbs
 In many languages, there are "ambitransitive" verbs, which can be
either transitive or intransitive.
For example, English play is ambitransitive, since it is grammatical to say 
His son plays, and it is also grammatical to say His son plays guitar.

I read fiction with great enthusiasm

I read with great enthusiasm.

I like to write short stories in my free time

I like to write in my free time.

I sing songs in the car

I sing in the car.
Transitive Verbs (Active vs Passive)
Transitive verbs can have a passive form.
Active: Subject + transitive verb + object
Passive: Object + was/were + transitive verb in pp (+ by subject) 

Thieves stole his car. (active)

His car was stolen by thieves. (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)
Can intransitive verbs be passive verbs?

Because intransitive verbs

are verbs that do not accept
objects.
Transitive or Intransitive
Yesterday Grandma was hit by a car.
Transitive Passive - Grandma receives the action car is the doer

My former classmates were seen at the reunion.

Transitive passive - Classmates receives the action

The lamp for the study was broken on the way home.
Transitive passive - Lamp receives the action.

The boy fed the dog.

Transitive active - The verb has an object WHO or WHOM