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CHAPTER 11. TRANSITIVE AND INTRANSITIVE VERBS
1. Direct objects
Most of the verbs examined so far have been in the Active Voice. When a verb is in the Active Voice, the subject of the verb refers to the person or thing performing the action described by the verb; and the object of the verb refers to the person or thing receiving the action described by the verb.
In the following examples, the objects of the verbs are printed in bold type.
e.g. He read the book.
I did not see the balloon.
They ate the potatoes quickly.
She rode her bicycle along the sidewalk.
Do we understand it?
In these sentences, the verbs read, did see, ate, rode and do understand are in the Active Voice; and the words book, balloon, potatoes, bicycle and it are the objects of the verbs. These objects are said to be direct objects, because they refer to things which receive directly the actions described by the verbs.
See Exercise 1.
2. Lay and Lie, Raise and Rise, and Set and Sit
Verbs which take an object are usually called transitive verbs. Verbs which do not take an object are usually called intransitive verbs.
Many English verbs can be used either intransitively or transitively. For instance, in the sentence Most birds can fly, the verb to fly is intransitive, since it is used without an object. But in the sentence This pilot will fly the plane, the verb to fly is transitive, since it takes the object plane.
However, some English verbs can be used only intransitively. A few pairs of verbs should be noted. The two verbs of each pair have similar meanings, but one of the verbs can take an object, and the other cannot. In the following table, the verbs labeled intransitive are those which cannot take an object.
| Infinitive | Simple Past | Past Participle | |
| Transitive: | to lay | laid | laid |
| Intransitive: | to lie | lay | lain |
| Transitive: | to raise | raised | raised |
| Intransitive: | to rise | rose | risen |
| Transitive: | to set | set | set |
| Intransitive: | to sit | sat | sat |
Particular care must be taken not to confuse the verbs to lay and to lie, since, as shown above, the Simple Past of the verb to lie has the same form as the bare infinitive of the verb to lay.
a. To Lay and To Lie
To lay is a transitive verb, which can take an object. The following examples illustrate the use of the Present Continuous, Simple Past, and Present Perfect tenses of the verb to lay. The verbs are underlined, and the objects of the verbs are printed in bold type.
e.g. I am laying the table.
He laid a bet on the white horse.
The hen has laid an egg.
To lie is an intransitive verb, which cannot take an object. The following examples illustrate the use of the Present Continuous, Simple Past, and Present Perfect tenses of the verb to lie.
e.g. She is lying on the sofa.
We lay on the beach in the sun.
He has lain in bed for a week.
In these examples, it might appear that the words sofa, beach, and bed act as objects of the verb to lie. However, this is not the case.
Not only verbs, but also prepositions have the ability to take objects. A few commonly used English prepositions are at, by, for, from, in, of, on, to and with. Prepositions will be discussed in detail in a later chapter.
In the examples above, sofa, and beach are objects of the preposition on; and bed is the object of the preposition in.
See Exercise 2.
b. To Raise and To Rise
To raise is a transitive verb, which can take an object. The following examples illustrate the use of the Present Continuous, Simple Past, and Present Perfect tenses of the verb to raise. The verbs are underlined, and the objects of the verbs are printed in bold type.
e.g. She is raising poodles.
He raised the window.
They have raised a crop of wheat.
To rise is an intransitive verb, which cannot take an object. The following examples illustrate the use of the Present Continuous, Simple Past, and Present Perfect tenses of the verb to rise.
e.g. The moon is rising in the east.
They rose to the occasion.
The temperature has risen by five degrees.
In these sentences, the verbs have no objects. The words east, occasion and degrees are the objects of the prepositions in, to and by.
See Exercise 3.
c. To Set and To Sit
To set is a transitive verb, which can take an object. The following examples illustrate the use of the Present Continuous, Simple Past, and Present Perfect tenses of the verb to set. The verbs are underlined, and the objects of the verbs are printed in bold type.
e.g. They are setting a record.
We set the jars on a shelf.
Have you set the date for your trip?
To sit is an intransitive verb, which cannot take an object. The following examples illustrate the use of the Present Continuous, Simple Past, and Present Perfect tenses of the verb to sit.
e.g. They are sitting by the front steps.
I sat at my desk for an hour.
You have sat on the couch all afternoon.
In these sentences, the verbs have no objects. The words steps, desk, and couch are the objects of the prepositions by, at and on.
See Exercises 4 and 5.
3. Indirect objects
In addition to taking direct objects, some verbs also take indirect objects. In the following examples, the direct objects are printed in bold type, and the indirect objects are underlined.
e.g. We gave the child a toy.
I sent the man the information.
In these examples, the words child and man are said to be the indirect objects of the verbs gave and sent. Indirect objects refer to things which receive indirectly the actions described by the verbs. In the above examples, the words toy and information are the direct objects of the verbs.
Indirect objects usually refer to living things.
It is possible for a sentence containing an indirect object to be rewritten by placing a preposition before the indirect object. When this is done, the original indirect object can be regarded either as the indirect object of the verb, or as the object of the preposition.
For example, the sentence We gave the child a toy, can be rewritten as follows:
We gave a toy to the child.
In the rewritten sentence, child can be regarded either as the indirect object of the verb gave, or as the object of the preposition to.
The following examples illustrate the position of the indirect object in a sentence. The direct object, toy, is printed in bold type, and the indirect object, child, is underlined.
e.g. We gave the child a toy.
We gave a toy to the child.
When an indirect object is not preceded by a preposition, the indirect object must be placed before the direct object. Thus, in the sentence We gave the child a toy, the indirect object child is placed before the direct object toy.
However, when an indirect object is preceded by a preposition, the indirect object must be placed after the direct object. In the sentence We gave a toy to the child, the indirect object child is preceded by the preposition to. Therefore, the indirect object, child is placed after the direct object toy.
The object which is placed last in a sentence tends to receive greater emphasis than the object which is placed first. Thus, the word order of a sentence can be varied in order to give greater emphasis to one object or the other. For instance, in the sentence We lent the teacher a book, the direct object book is slightly emphasized. However, in the sentence We lent a book to the teacher, the indirect object teacher is emphasized.
See Exercises 6 and 7.
A few English verbs, such as to describe, to distribute, to explain and to say, can take an indirect object only when the indirect object is preceded by a preposition. In the following examples, the direct objects are printed in bold type, and the indirect objects are underlined.
e.g. He described his experiences to the reporters.
They distributed the leaflets to their friends.
We explained the situation to the participants.
She said something to her teacher.
These verbs cannot take an indirect object which immediately follows the verb. One reason for this may be to avoid creating sentences which are ambiguous or confusing. For instance, a sentence which began with the words He described the reporters... would create the impression that it was the reporters who were being described. When the reporters is preceded by the preposition to, there is no ambiguity.
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