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Intransitive Verbs (Never Passive)

Recognize verbs that do not accept objects

Audience laughing
 

 

Intransitive vs. Transitive Verbs 

INTRANSITIVE VERB

An intransitive verb expresses that someone or something takes action to do something—by itself.  The verb does not accept an object (noun) as its complement. A passive structure cannot be formed.
INTRANSITIVE VERB OPTIONAL COMPLEMENT
NOUN PHRASE + VERB (+ PREP PHRASE)

The audience laughed

 

The kids smiled. 

 

Everyone clapped

when the speaker finished.

The event occurred (took place)

in the morning.
CAN PASSIVE BE FORMED?  NO  
NOUN PHRASE + PASSIVE VERB  

*The jokes were laughed.

Passive cannot be formed without an object.

*The kids were smiled.

 

*The speaker was clapped.

 

*The talk was occurred.

 
TRANSITIVE VERB

A transitive verb expresses that someone or something takes action to do something. The verb requires an object noun as its complement. The object is the person/thing affected by the action.                    
TRANSITIVE VERB OBJECT COMPLEMENT
NOUN PHRASE + VERB NOUN PHRASE (+ PP)

The audience enjoyed

the jokes.

The kids liked

the speaker.

Everyone applauded

the speaker when he finished.

The librarian scheduled

the event in the morning.
CAN PASSIVE BE FORMED?  YES  
NOUN PHRASE + PASSIVE VERB OPTIONAL BY–PHRASE

The jokes were enjoyed.

 

The speaker was liked¹

by the kids.

The speaker was applauded

by the kids.

The talk was scheduled

in the morning (by the librarian.)
 

*incorrect usage / ~awkward wording, borderline usage (requires a special context)

¹ This sentence sounds better with active wording. "The kids liked the speaker" sounds better than "The speaker was liked."  

applaud (V) – clap; show appreciation for a performance or speech

occur (V) – happen, take place

voice allows for the subject-position placement of either (1) the "agent" (the doer) or (2) the "patient" (person/ thing affected by the action). The shift from active to passive voice requires both a structural change (rewording of the clause) and the use of verb combinations.  See Passive.

Also see pages:Transitive Verbs–DO; Ditransitive Verbs , -ed / -ing (amused v. amusing), Passive Summary.

 

Word Categories: N – Noun; V – Verb; Aux – Auxiliary; Adj – Adjective; Adv – Adverb; P –Preposition; Det –Determiner. See Word Categories.

Phrasal Categories: NP – Noun Phrase; VP – Verb Phrase; AdjP – Adjective Phrase; AdvP – Adverb Phrase; PP – Prepositional Phrase; DP – Determinative Phrase.

Clausal Categories: Cls – clause; F – finite clause; NF – nonfinite clause: Ger – gerund; Inf – infinitive; PPart – past participle.

Word Functions: Subj – subject; Pred – predicate/predicator; Comp – complement: an element or elements required by a word or structure to complete its meaning in the clause (e.g., DO – direct object; IO – indirect object; PP - prep. phrase);  Adjunct – adjunct: elements not required by an expression to complete its meaning (Subord – subordinator; Coord – coordinator); Supl – supplement: a clause or phrase added onto a clause that is not closely related to the central thought or structure of the main clause.

 

 

 

 

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Terminology

Semantic Roles, Functions and Verb Types

 

Semantic roles:

  • causer/agent—the thing (inanimate) or the person (animate) that causes the action to occur. (He sang a song. The wind blows.)
  • instrument—something used by the agent in performing the action. (He sang a song with a guitar.)  See By / With.
  • patient (theme)—the person or thing that is affected by the action of the agent; the thing acted upon. (He sang a song.)  (This page.)
  • recipient—the person (or entity) that is the receiver or endpoint of the action. (He sang her a song. He sang a song to her. ) See Ditransitives.
  • beneficiary—the person (or thing) that something is obtained for or done for. (He sang them a song. He sang a song for them.) See Ditransitives.
  • path, source, goal, and location—where the theme moves—starting-point, intermediate point, end-point. (He walked from home to the bus-stop.)

 

Functions: (uses)

  • direct object (DO) — (usually a noun phrase) the person or entity (thing, concept, etc.) that undergoes the action expressed by the predicate.  (He sang a song.)
  • indirect object (IO) — (usually a noun phrase) the people or things that carry the semantic role (meaning) of goal (location), recipient (receiver), beneficiary of (one who receives the benefit of or enjoyment) an action or event. goal—The teacher sent the students home. [to]; recipient—The teacher gave Jason a book. [to]; beneficiary—The teacher saved Jason a book. [for]

Verbs types:

  • dynamic verb – a verb in which an action takes place (e.g., run, jump, eat, travel, design).
  • static verb – (stative verb) a verb that is not dynamic; no action takes place (e.g., be, seem, appear, become, like, etc.) 
  • intransitive verb – a verb that does not take an object as its complement (and cannot be passive). (e.g., He lies down.)
  • transitive verb – a verb that takes an object as its complement. (e.g., He lay the baby down.)

 

Pronoun Forms:

  • nominative—a pronoun form used when it is the subject of the verb: I, we, she, he, they
  • accusative—a pronoun form used when it is the object of the verb: me, us, her, him, them.

 

Also see (Aarts 4.1.3.1-2) (Huddleston 4 §8.2.1) as referenced in Grammar Notes (below).

 

 

 

Intransitive Verbs

List

 

 

Intransitive Verbs  (used without objects)

agree

appear

arrive

become

belong

collapse

consist

cost

cough¹

cry¹

depend

die

disappear

emerge

exist

fall

go

happen³

have¹

hiccup / hic-cough

inquire

knock (sound)

laugh

lie (recline or tell untruth)

live

look

last (endure)

occur

remain

respond

result

revolt¹

rise

sit

sleep

smile¹

sneeze

stand

stay

swim

vanish

vomit¹

wake²

wait 

¹Usually intransitive except for : cry "cry me a river" (behave like a drama queen); cough "cough up the money" (pay, even if you don't want to); had  "He had me at 'hello'" (captivated) "I was had". (tricked); revolt "Their behavior revolted me." (disgusted); smile "She smiled an approval." (conveyed) ; vomit "the volcano vomited flames" (emitted), "He vomited his dinner." (ejected stomach contents)

²awake (trans. and intrans.) – I awoke / I awoke her.

³happen (intrans.) – *An idea happened. But:  We happened upon an idea. We came across an idea. ("unexpectedly discovered/occurred") It happens that we saw him this morning. ("by chance").

Also see Transitive Verbs.

 

 

 

 

Other Intransitive Verbs

Copula & Static Verbs

baby
 

 

 

Static Verbs  with Intransitive and Transitive Forms

INTRANSITIVE VERB

The meaning of a static verb may be expressed as 'equals' or 'is'. No action is expressed. States of being, sensory states, and measurement states are followed by descriptions (Adj) or identifying names (N) rather than "recipients" of actions.
COPULA   VERB

The baby is tired. (Adj – describes the baby)

This baby is Anne. (N – specifies the baby)
SENSORY STATE

The baby feels wet.
MENTAL STATE

The baby is tired. I know.
POSSESSION STATE

 

The baby belongs here (Adv)  / to her (PP).  

MEASUREMENT
baby on a scale

The baby weighs ten pounds(5 kg). (describes – baby = 10 lbs.)
TRANSITIVE VERB

In some cases a verb is be used as a static verb with one meaning and as a dynamic verb with another meaning. Only a dynamic verb can be a transitive verb, which has a subject ('doer'), a verb (action) and an object ('recipient').
COPULA   VERB

Be alert!  (become, act)
SENSORY STATE

The mother felt the diaper to see if it was wet.

(The diaper was felt by the baby's mother.)
COGNITIVE STATES

Get to know our doctor. (arrange to meet)

Our doctor is known by you. (acquainted with)
POSSESSION STATE

The baby has a bottle.   *A bottle is had by the baby.  (no passive form)

You had me at "hello". 

We were had by them. (sports)  ("taken possession of")

—  move over   *The baby belongs me.

 
MEASUREMENT

The doctor weighed the baby. 

The baby was weighed by the doctor. (Put on a scale.)
 

*Words marked with an asterisk and yellow highlighting are examples of incorrect usage.
Also see Specifying vs. Ascriptive "be" and Transitive Verbs–DO.
In linguistic terms, a transitive verb has at least two 'arguments' – a subject and an object (monotransitive).

 

 

 

 

 
STATES OF BEING SENSORY STATES MENTAL STATES POSSESSION STATES MEASUREMENT STATES

See  States of Being

See Sensory States

See Cognitive States

See Possession States

See Measurement States

be (am, is, are were, was)  (intrans)

feel (intrans/ trans)

know, think, suppose, imagine,  understand (intrans/ trans)

have  (trans)

weigh   (intrans/ trans)

seem, appear, look  (intrans)

sound  (intrans/ trans)

forget, remember  (intrans/ trans)

own, hold title to (trans)

equal. add up to (intrans)

resemble, looks like  (trans)

taste (intrans/ trans)

desire, *want / *need / (trans)

belong (intrans)

reach, measure (intrans/ trans)

becomes  (intrans/ trans)

see   (intrans/ trans)

believe, feel (intrans/ trans)

 

cost, owe  (intrans/ trans)

get  (intrans/ trans)

hear (intrans/ trans)

recognize (trans)

  

include, contain, (trans)
 

These are also called stative verbs.  See States of Being.    These contrast with dynamic verbs,  or action verbs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common Mistakes

Errors and Solutions

 

 

Error and Solution

ERROR

*The accident was happened a week ago.
    (A transitive verb has no object and, therefore, cannot be passive)

An idea was happened to us.

 *My mother bore me in 1981.
   (The active form is hardly ever used.)

*The prices is included a breakfast with the room.

*The College of San Mateo locates on a hilltop.
   (The verb has a different meaning in active and passive forms.)

*The car was cost me just three thousand dollars.
SOLUTION

The accident happened a week ago.

We happened upon an idea. "discovered by chance"

We happened to come across an idea. "thought of it unexpectedly"

I was born in 1981.   

The price includes a breakfast with the room.
Breakfast is included in the price of the room

The College of San Mateo is located on a hilltop. (exists)
The Board of Regents will locate the new college on a hilltop. (to situate / to build)

The car cost me three thousand dollars.  (not used in the passive form)
I was charged three thousand dollars for the car.
 

*not used

 

 

 

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Grammar Notes (Advanced)

Diagrams

 

 

Transitive vs. Intransitive Diagrams

TRANSITIVE

A transitive verb has an object (noun phrase) as its complement.

Compare:

The audience enjoyed the speaker. *The audience enjoyed.  (incomplete)

The speaker amused the audience. *The speaker amused. (incomplete)

 

PASSIVE

The speaker was enjoyed. (by the audience.)

The audience was amused. (by the speaker)

See Transitive (direct object) or Ditransitive verbs (direct and indirect object).

(Aarts 93) (Azar 11-1) (Huddleston 16 §10) (Payne 13) (Swan 412.4)

  

TRANSITIVE DIAGRAM

Diagram: The speaker amused the audience
INTRANSITIVE

A intransitive verb does not have an object (noun phrase) as its complement. However, depending on the meaning of the verb, it may require another kind of complement such as prepositional phrase or clause.

Compare these clauses with no possible passive form or structure:

*The meeting occurred.  (happened, took place)

The people meet in the library. (locational PP complement)

The meeting occurred at 11:00. (temporal PP complement)

*He said.  (Some verbs require a clause to complete their meaning.)

He said that it was awful.   (that + clausal complement)

He did remarkably well.   (adverb complement)

See Subject/Predicate (clause structure–complements).

 
INTRANSITIVE DIAGRAM

Diagram: the meeting occurred
 

 

 

Works Cited

  • Aarts, Bas. Oxford Modern English Grammar. Oxford UP, 2011.
  • Azar, Betty Schrampfer, and Stacy A. Hagen. Understanding and Using English Grammar. 4th ed., Pearson Education, 2009.
  • Huddleston, Rodney D., and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002.
  • Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage. 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2005.
  • Audience of people smiling. pxhere.com/en/photo/652762. CC0. Accessed 15 May 2018.

 

 

 

Practice 1

Act of Nature — Earthquake

earthquake in italy
 

 

Decide whether the verb requires an active or passive verb.

  1. Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence. 
  2. Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "check 1-10" button at the bottom, or click the "check" button to the left as you go.

 

1.
 I'll never forget the earthquake

2.
 

3.
.


4.

5.


resemble (V) – look like

6.
   

7.
I heard people walking around and shouting.

8.
  I was so relieved. 

9.


emerge (V) – come out of

10.

 

 

 

 

 

Practice 2

Act of Nature: Tornado

tornado
 

Read for Errors

As far as we could see, there was nothing left.  The tornado had smashed everything to tiny bits, and then the wind had scattered the bits everywhere. The place where our house was stood was just the ground.  There was nothing to mark its place. The neighborhood was disappeared.  Only bits of the street was remained. The trees were fallen down and lying in strange positions. So little was left that we couldn't orient ourselves.

Other people were arrived, and they also shocked to see their land with no house on it. We walked around and scratched the ground with a stick.  We kept looking for something that was belonged to us, something that could tie us to this empty place.

Our day to day lives was consisted of taking care of our things, our stuff that we moved from place to place.  And now that stuff was everywhere, but in fact, nowhere. From that moment, we began our "journey" to understand what so many people was felt after disasters such as tsunamis, earthquakes, floods and storms.

For a while, we were housed at a hotel in a nearby city. Then, we were stayed at some apartments until we could rebuild our home. Some people were surprised to hear that we might rebuild in the same place.  However, our the people in our neighborhood met and discussed it. We were all agreed that we should rebuild.

apartments (N) – multiple-unit housing  Br-En – flats

consist of (verbal expression) –  be formed of, have as its parts, be made up of

journey (N) – a long trip; in this case, an emotional trip

orient (V) – find direction; to determine the position of in relation to the points of the compass: north, west, east or south

scatter (V) – toss, throw about 

stuff (N) – an informal word for possessions; indefinite, unspecific, noncount

tie (V) – connect, relate

tornado (N) – a localized, violently destructive windstorm occurring over land, especially in the Middle West, and characterized by a long, funnel-shaped cloud extending toward the ground and made visible by condensation and debris.

wrath (N) – anger

 

 

 

 

Correct or Incorrect?

  1. Select a response correct or incorrect.
  2. Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "check 11-20" button at the bottom, or click the "Check" button to the left  as you go.
  3. Words that should be deleted are marked with brackets [delete this].

 

11.
As far as we could see, there was nothing left.  The storm had smashed everything to tiny bits, and then the wind had scattered the bits everywhere.

     

12.
The place where our house was stood was just the ground. There was nothing to mark its place.

       

13.
The neighborhood was disappeared. Only bits of the street was remained.

     

14.
The trees were fallen down and lying in strange positions. So little was left that we couldn't orient ourselves.

     

15.
Other people were arrived, and they also shocked to see their land with no house on it.

     

16.
We walked around and scratched the ground with a stick. We kept looking for something that was belonged to us, something that could tie us to this empty place.

     

17.
Our day to day lives was consisted of taking care of our things, our stuff that we moved from place to place.  And now that stuff was everywhere, but in fact, nowhere.

     

18.
From that moment, we began our "journey" to understand what so many people was felt after disasters such as tsunamis, earthquakes, floods and storms.

     

19.
For awhile, we were housed at a hotel in a nearby city. Then, we were stayed at some apartments until we could rebuild our home.

     

20.
Some people were surprised to hear that we might rebuild in the same place. However, the people in our neighborhood met and discussed it. We were all agreed that we should rebuild.

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

Practice 3

Act of Nature: Volcano

Stromboli
 

 

Read for Errors

Stromboli is a small island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the north coast of Sicily, and contains one of the three active volcanoes in Italy.   The volcano is erupted many times, and is constantly active with minor eruptions every 15 to 20 minutes. Because one can see the volcano from many points on the island and from the surrounding sea, it called "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean".

A Strombolian eruption typically results in a few mild energetic bursts of ash and bits of lava that go a few hundred meters up in the air and then fall back down. Stromboli's activity is almost always small explosions, but occasionally is consisted of explosions and lava flows as it did in 2002, 2006 and 2007.

The island is included three villages: San Bartolo and San Vincenzo in the northeast, and the smaller village Ginostra in the southwest. The island has as many as 2,000 visitors in the summer.  However, only approximately 600 people are remained there in the winter.

Though the lava flows were not occurred near the villages, the volcano bursts can send large rocks into the sea causing small tsunamis, which in the past have destroyed fishing boats and parts of the harbor. In case of emergency, regular evacuation drills are held in which the residents gather in the piazza. 

"But there's no reason to think that anything extraordinary will happen in the short term. The population is not at risk."  Fortunately, nothing was happened during the last big eruption to these brave souls living on the side of a live volcano. 

– Reuters   28 Feb 2007 

 

ash (N) – the soft gray powder that remains after something has been burned:

burst (N) – event in which the volcano has a sudden, violent release of gas or lava

evacuation (N) – a temporary emptying or departure; in this case, of people and animals

eruption (N) – when something explodes and sends smoke, fire, and rock into the sky

lava (N) – hot liquid rock that flows from a volcano

piazza (N) – central square of the village

 

 

 

Edit the sentence(s).

  1. Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence. 
  2. Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "check 11-20" button at the bottom, or click the "check" button as you go.

 

21.
Stromboli is a small island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the north coast of Sicily, and contains one of the three active volcanoes in Italy.   The volcano is erupted many times, and is constantly active with minor eruptions every 15 to 20 minutes. 


22.
Because one can see the volcano from many points on the island and from the surrounding sea, it called "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean".


23.
A Strombolian eruption typically results in a few mild energetic bursts of ash and bits of lava that go a few hundred meters up in the air and then fall back down. Stromboli's activity is almost always small explosions, but occasionally is consisted of explosions and lava flows as it did in 2002, 2006 and 2007.


24.
The island is included three villages: San Bartolo and San Vincenzo in the northeast, and the smaller village Ginostra in the southwest.


25.
The island has as many as 2,000 visitors in the summer.  However, only approximately 600 people are remained there in the winter.


26.
Though the lava flows were not occurred near the villages, the volcano bursts can send large rocks into the sea causing small tsunamis, which in the past have destroyed fishing boats and parts of the harbor.


27.
In case of emergency, regular evacuation drills are held in which the residents gather in the piazza.


28.
"But there's no reason to think that anything extraordinary will happen in the short term. The population is not at risk."  Fortunately, nothing was happened during the last big eruption to these brave souls living on the side of a live volcano.