Transitive, Intransitive, and Linking Verbs

 

Transitive, Intransitive, and Linking Verbs: 

Verbs are words that describe an action or a state of being. The main verbs are action or linking verbs, and they are divided into assisting or principal verbs. Action verbs can be either transitive or intransitive. Helping verbs, which are ANY and ALL verbs that come PRIOR to the main verb and "assist" the main verb to make meaning, only appear in verb phrases. Consider the following examples: Is/am/are/was/were/can/could/shall/should/will/would/do/does/did/has/have/had, etc. are helpful verbs with+ the Main verb.

•       Only an action verb can be labeled transitive or intransitive.

•       An action verb is transitive only if it has a direct object after it: Tim sang a song.

•       An action verb is intransitive if it has no direct object after it: Tim sang loudly.

Knowing a little about the following three sorts of verbs can help you better comprehend sentence construction:

·         linking verbs

·          intransitive verbs

·          transitive verbs

Every verb has a subject (the person or thing that "does" the action). Whether or not a verb has an object makes the biggest distinction between linking, intransitive, and transitive verbs (the person or thing that "gets" the action).

The acronyms of the following indicators are of:

Ø  S = subject

Ø  V = verb

Ø  SC = subject complement

Ø  DO = direct object

Ø  IO = indirect object

Transitive verbs require an object, linking verbs require a subject complement, intransitive verbs do not require an object, mono-transitive verbs require a direct object, and di-transitive verbs require two objects. Intransitive and linking verbs cannot be passive, but the transitive verb can be converted into passive. The linking verb has the structure of S-V-SC, the intransitive verb has S-V, and the transitive verb has  S-V-DO/ S-V-IO-DO.

Linking verbs are be, seem, become, appear, feel, get, look, etc. Intransitive verbs arrive, break down, come, cough, and go sleep, Transitive verbs in direct objects are clean, destroy, eat, like, turn down, want, etc. and S-v-DO-IO format of transitive verbs are buy, give, pass, send, show, tell, etc.

Linking verbs have NO object. Linking verbs link two parts of a sentence. They link the subject to a noun or adjective. In this sense, linking verbs are like a mathematical equals sign (=). The linking verb has Subject verb+ subject complement. For example ABD is a teacher. (ABD= a teacher).

Linking verbs do not make sense if used alone: they need a "subject complement" to complete their meaning.

Ø  They are (???)

They are teachers

Ø  I feel (???)

I feel unwell.

In the above examples, teachers and the unwell are subject complements. Linking verbs work in two different ways:

1. The two parts of the sentence are the same thing (ABD is my father)

2. The first part has the quality described by the second part (ABD is English)

The most obvious linking verb is the verb:

● be

Other linking verbs include:

● appear, become, feel, get, grow, look, remain, seem, smell, sound, taste, turn

Linking verbs cannot be passive.

Look at these example sentences with linking verbs:

Ø  Is that your car?

Ø  I am feeling thirsty.

Ø  John is my boyfriend.

Ø  My father became an engineer.

Ø  The milk will turn sour if you leave it.

Ø  Her explanation did not appear plausible.

Ø  Hillary remained under suspicion for the rest of her life. (Note that linking verbs are sometimes called "copula verbs".)

Although we talk about "linking, intransitive and transitive verbs" (just as most grammar books and websites do), it is really more accurate to talk about "linking, intransitive and transitive usage". This is because many verbs can be linking OR transitive OR intransitive depending on the exact meaning and context.

Intransitive verbs have NO object. Their action is not transferred from the subject to something else. Many intransitive verbs can make sense if used alone:

● He fainted.

● She cried.

● Our car broke down.

Of course, we often do follow intransitive verbs with other words telling us how,

where or when—but NEVER with an object:

● He fainted after lunch.

● She coughed bitterly.

● Our car broke down in Bangkok.

Intransitive verbs cannot be passive.

Examples of intransitive verbs are:  bark, boast, change, cough, die, go, live, run, sit, sleep, wave

Look at these example sentences with intransitive verbs:

Ø  They live in London.

Ø  Tell your dog to sit now.

Ø  Were the dogs barking?

Ø  The news hasn't changed.

Ø  He died after a long illness.

Ø  When I saw him he was running.

Ø  The president waved to the crowds.

Transitive Verbs

Transitive verbs have an object. Their action is transferred from the subject to something else (the object). Transitive verbs can be active OR passive. Some transitive verbs have one object; some have two objects—as shown below.

Mono-transitive verbs have ONE object: a direct object.

He kicked the ball.

Examples of mono-transitive verbs are bomb, clean, break, destroy, eat, kill, like, put off, trigger, turn down, want, etc.

 Look at these example sentences with mono-transitive verbs:

Ø  Do you love me?

Ø  The Allies bombed Dresden.

Ø  Pick it up and throw it away.

Ø  Tara doesn't want a new car.

Ø  Bond killed the snake and ate it.

Ø  Can frocking trigger earthquakes?

Ø  Do you think they'll turn down my offer / turn my offer down?

 

Di-transitive verbs have TWO objects: a direct object and an indirect object. Examples of di-transitive verbs are: buy, give, grant, lend, make, pass, send, serve, show, teach, tell, etc. Look at these example sentences with di-transitive verbs:

Ø  Make me an offer.

Ø  Who teaches him, French?

Ø  The bank won't lend them any money.

Ø  They will serve the guests lunch at 12:30pm.

Ø  Kid refused to show the teacher her homework.

Ø  Anthony bought his new girlfriend some roses on her birthday.

Ø  The local council has granted us permission to open a shop.

Note that many verbs can be used intransitively OR transitively (mono- and di-) depending on the context and the verb's exact meaning. Such verbs are called "ambitransitive verbs".

● He reads at night. (Intransitive)

● He is reading a book. (Mono-transitive)

● He read Mary the letter. (Di-transitive)