Hello! And welcome to Like A Native Speaker In This week's lesson, you're going to be
learning about transitive and intransitive verbs.
[introduction]
Transitive and intransitive verbs? Bwuuuuh?! Ok...ok, relax. Those words sound complicated,
they sound difficult, but it's actually not that big of a deal.
This is one of the fundamentals of English grammar and something that many many students
get wrong. Basically, when we talk about transitive or
intransitive verbs, what we're actually talking about it objects.
So! You're super smart, so you know that English is Subject, Verb, Object.
The object is generally the thing receiving the verb, receiving the action.
But there are two kinds of objects: direct and indirect.
A direct object comes immediately after the verb. It comes directly after.
"I bought a car." An indirect object means there is something
between the verb and the object. It is not direct!
"I went to the store." 'store' is the object, 'went' is the verb.
'To' is a preposition; it's the connector. So what does this have to do with transitive
or intransitive? Well, I'm glad you asked, voice in my head!
A transitive verb, is a verb that is able to take a direct object after it.
But an intransitive verb cannot take a direct object. Or sometimes it doesn't need an object
at all. Confused yet? It's alright. Let me give you
an example. "I ran". No object necessary. That is a complete
sentence. But if you wanted to add an object, you need
a preposition. "I ran to the store."
Compare this with a transitive verb. "I bought."... That's incorrect.
That's not a complete sentence. The most common mistake I hear is students
saying, "Ah, I like." What? You like what?
The tricky part is which verbs are transitive and which verbs are intransitive,
a lot of it is just memorization. And I know, I know. You hate memorization.
I hate memorization. But sometimes, that's what you have to do.
However! There is a guideline that can help.
Usually, intransitive verbs are verbs of movement; go, run, walk.
Another example of an intransitive verb is 'happen'.
So transitive verbs require an object and it's generally a direct object.
Intransitive verbs do not require an object and usually there's a preposition or an adverbial
phrase after the verb. Some verbs are the third category: bitransitive.
As you can probably guess, a bitransitive verb can be used in a transitive situation
or an intransitive one. Often the meaning can change.
As an example, "He runs to the store." It has that feeling of movement.
Now, if we change it, "He runs the store." It is actually correct, because run is a bitransitive
verb. But the meaning is completely different.
In case you were wondering, "He runs the store" means he manages the store, he controls the
store. So transitive and intransitive verbs are very
important, basic parts of grammar, and they're connected with how you use an
object with the verb. There are three kinds: transitive, intransitive
and bitransitive. Transitive requires a direct object.
Intransitive does not require an object, but if there is an object, there is usually a
prepositional phrase or an adverbial phrase. And bitransitive verbs swing both ways. You
can use them transitively or intransitively. But be careful because some verbs change meaning
when you use transitive or intransitive. Now you are masters of verbs and objects.
If you have any questions, you know what to do.
And as always, thank you for subscribing, and I will see you next time!
[Outro]