Verbs – Transitive and Intransitive

Happy Saturday! I have decided to kick off my grammar posts with an explanation of transitive and intransitive verbs – and I’ll make it as exciting as I can. If you followed along with my words of the day last week, you’ll know they were all verbs – either transitive or intransitive. And for those who are not aware of verb variations, or those who need a refresher, here is my take.

Transitive Verbs…
…require an object. Not satisfied? Good, here’s more.
Take a look at the prefix: “trans-.” This Latin root means “across,” or “beyond,” and is present in other words like transit and transfer. Transfer is the one I want you to remember when thinking about transitive verbs, though, and here’s why. A transitive verb takes the action and transfers that action onto its subject; it takes the action beyond the verb and on towards the object. Here are some examples:
– The company shipped the packages.
– We took the coffee after paying.
– I needed a nap.

Intransitive Verbs…
…don’t require an object. The prefix “in-” has a negative connotation or an opposite effect when added to words: inability, irregular, illiterate, and so on. So, from this you can accurately gather that intransitive verbs do not transfer their action to an object; they don’t have to. Here are some examples:
– We danced.
– They spoke.
– She laughed.

I hope this helps, and if you have more questions, or suggestions, for this or other grammar posts, leave me a comment below – and thanks for reading!