Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
Verb is the most significant part of a sentence. Without it the sentence seems to be
incomplete. It is an action word that indicates action and possession of the subject. Verbs
can be doing verbs, being verbs and having verbs.
1. Doing Verb:
It indicates the ‘action‘ or ‘work‘ done by the subject.
For example:
The monkey jumped.
The thief ran away.
They eat bananas.
Words like jumped, run, play, eat, go, come, sleep are examples of doing verbs.
2. Being Verb:
It indicates the ‘being or existence of the subject.
For example;
I am fine.
He is tall.
She was sick.
They were present.
Words like am, is, are, was, were, has been have been will be should be are examples of the being verbs.
3. Having Verb:
It indicates the belonging’ or ‘possession of the subject.
For example:
You have beautiful eyes.
Yes, I have two pens.
They had their shares.
Words like has, had, have, having are examples of having verbs.
Main And Auxiliary Verbs
Some verbs make the sentences complete and meaningful and some other verbs helps these verbs to make complete and meaningful sentence.
1. The verb that makes a sentence complete and meaningful is called the Principal Verb. For example;
He goes to school.
They take milk.
It is the main verb to which we add an ending or which we change to other forms.
For example;
I go to school.
He goes to school.
They went to school.
2. The verb that helps the principal or main verb to complete the meaning of a sentence
is called the Auxiliary Verb or Helping Verb.
There are two types of auxiliaries.
These are:
(a) Primary Auxiliary (is, am, are, was, were, being, been, has, have, had, do, does.
did).
(b) Modal Auxiliary (can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, ought to, used to, need, dare, must).
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
Some verbs in sentences require objects and some others do not require objects to complete the sense of sentences. On this basis, verbs are of two kinds: Transitive Verbs
and Intransitive Verbs.
1. Transitive Verbs: The verb that transmits or transfers the meaning to the object of the sentence or the words that follow the verb is called a Transitive Verb.
For example;
My father bought. (What – No answer, Incomplete)
My father bought a car. (What – a car complete sense)
Here the verb bought passes or transfer its meaning to the word ‘a car’ that follows (object). Only then it makes complete sense. Thus, the verb ‘bought’ is used transitively. 2. Intransitive Verb: The verb that does not pass over or transmit or transfer meaning to the object of the sentence of the words that follow the verb is called an transitive Verb.
For example;
The child laughed.
The truth triumphs.
Here the verbs ‘laughed‘ and ‘triumphs‘ do not pass over their meanings. They do not require an object to complete their meaning. Thus, the verbs ‘laughed and triumphs are used intransitively.
Verbs of Incomplete Predication
Look at the sentences given below:
The girl looked conscious.
He is a good coach.
Here, the verbs ‘looked’ and ‘is do not take an object and are ‘therefore’ intransitive, yet their sense is incomplete. They need the help of their last parts after the verb to make complete sense. like ‘conscious’ and a ‘good coach’ respectively. Such verbs (Transitive and Intransitive verbs) which need the help of some words to complete the sense of the sentence are called the Verbs of Incomplete Predication.
Complement of the Verb
The word or group of words, which completes the sense of a sentence is called the Complement of the verb.
For example: She found the story very interesting.
Here, ‘very interesting‘ is the object complement of the object ‘the story‘
Ditransitive Verbs
Transitive Verbs may take two objects: Direct object and indirect object.
For example;
1. Brother gave a pen to me.
2. He borrowed a book from me.
The answer to the question, verb + what is the direct object and the answer to question,
verb + whom is the indirect object.
What is given? pen (Direct object)
To whom? me (Indirect object)
Note that the direct object is usually a non-living thing and the indirect object is usually a person, animal or living thing.
Verbs that take two objects are also called Ditransitive Verbs.
For example;
1. He denied the allegation put on her.
2. She gave bangles to me.
Verbs like allow, deny, give, lend, save, tell,advance, feed, hand, loan, show, write are examples of ditransitive verbs.