Questions tagged [intransitive-verbs]
Intransitive verbs do not take a direct object or complement.
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Can "stagnate" be used as a transitive verb?
I know that some verbs can be used either transitively or intransitively. Is it acceptable to use a verb transitively that is generally not used that way? As in:
"I can't continue to stagnate ...
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Would the verb in this sentence be used transitively or intransitively? [closed]
In the following sentence is "painted" being used transitively or intransitively?
The sunset painted the sky with a tapestry of fiery colors.
I asked ChatGPT about this and it gives ...
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With adjective uses of the to-infinitive like 'a place to live in', is the preposition 'in' necessary?
a house to live in
a place to live in
Does the second example essentially need the preposition 'in'?
In the first example, the noun 'house' is a specific place, so I've known to use to-infinitive it ...
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To dance oneself
LCD Soundsystem sings about Danc(ing) Yrself clean, Sesame Street's muppets sing about Danc(ing) myself to sleep, Alice Cooper about Danc(ing) yourself to death and on its website the British Royal ...
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"I might do too"
Today I came read someone write "I might do too" and it struck me as non-idiomatic – but I was unable to identify the offending aspect.
Near variations all sound acceptable to my ear:
"...
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"Doctors often work very long hours": intransitive verb followed by a noun?
I spotted something iffy in "work".
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries has
A1: [intransitive]
noun Doctors often work very long hours.
Oxford English Dictionary has
b. intransitive. With ...
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What is a verb for "to be identical"?
What is a verb for the meaning "To be identical"?
identical adjective Things that are identical are exactly the same. Collins
For instance, instead of saying "Diamonds are never ...
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What’s the meaning of ‘stand hacking‘? [duplicate]
I'm trying to understand this sentence:
For hours I stood hacking at the icy ground.
Which is in this excerpt of Viktor Frankl’s 1947 book, Man's Search for Meaning:
Another time we were at work in ...
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Infinitive as direct object [duplicate]
Merriam's dictionary defines "eat" as an intransitive verb and provides the following definition followed by an example: "to bear the expense of : take a loss on"
the team was ...
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Are "go into," "come into," and "get into" transitive?
As the subject says. Note the following sentences:
"I got into a taxi."
"He came into the room."
"We went into the store."
For some reason, I have always been under the ...
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Is a verb transitive when used only with an indirect object? [closed]
I am learning about indirect objects and transitivity in French, but I believe that my question is also valid in English. Therefore, I'd like to sort this out in English.
If a verb is used only with ...
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In what sense is the “call" in “call for" intransitive
Oxford English Dictionary (www.oed.com) lists “call for" as an intransitive phrasal verb, while other dictionaries such as Macmillan and Longman list it as a transitive phrasal verb. I see that “...
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Verbs that can be used as both passive and active in the same form - how to determine if a verb is a such one? [duplicate]
Some English verbs can be used in the same form in both active and passive meaning.
E.g.:
(active) I change the world - (passive) the world changes (i.e is being changed).
(active) I open the door - (...
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Is it possible to put an intransitive verb in passive voice? [closed]
My teacher told me that we can't convert intransitive verbs like 'walk' into passive voice when there is no object present. For example:
He walks every day.
But I think we can convert this by saying:...
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What makes be intransitive? How to tell one meaning from the other? [closed]
The STATEMENT MADE BY NATIVES:
be is not transitive, that’s why “Whom can he be?” and “Who can be
him?” are wrong.
If it’s true, why is this correct?
I don’t want to be him.
My first language is ...
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Forgot in this sentence: Transitive or Intransitive?
"Today is Friday, but Adae forgot."
Hi everyone, so I encountered this sentence in a writing book . I believe "forgot" in this context is intransitive since there is no object in ...
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Enjoy- Intransitive / transitive verb
I know that Enjoy is always used as a transitive verb and only as an intransitive in imperative sentences in some specific context. However, as native speakers, do you think enjoy is correctly used in ...
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Transitive and Intransitive verbs: is 'eat' transitive in 'Don't eat much'?
I do know the definition of transitive and intransitive verbs. But I have a doubt with respect to a specific example which is as follows:
Don't eat much.
I want to know whether in this sentence, the ...
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Passive Voice with intransitive verbs?
With a sentence like, "He sat on the couch," is sat still being used as an intransitive verb since, in general, prepositional phrases cannot act as direct objects? To me, the prepositional ...
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Can 'optimise' be intransitive verb?
Gans calls these ‘prediction machines’, because these algorithms make
forecasts about the outcomes of decisions and optimise accordingly
(based on definable trends in behavioural data).
In this ...
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TO and FOR after transitive Verb
In the below two sentences, how intend(verb) has been used? Transitively or Intransitively?
Dictionary is saying that it is used as a transitive verb. But my question is there are TO and FOR after the ...
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Put something out to tender
TENDER: (intransitive) followed by for: to make a formal offer
or estimate for (a job or contract).
noun: the act or an instance of tendering; offer.
What does tender mean in put something out to ...
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Are the infinitives that follow catenative verbs considered object?
I am confused to find objects of catenative verbs , for example i was looking for the verb refuse and it's transitive and intransitive when i found some examples from oxford dictionary but still not ...
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Which sentence is grammatically correct lay or laid in this situation?
She lay on the beach while her son splashed at the water's edge.
or
She laid on the beach while her son splashed at the water's edge.
Grammarly is indicating that both are correct, but Word Power says ...
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Doesn't need anything between be-verb and to one's advantage?
I saw a sentence with idiom "to one's advantage" in my textbook.
After that, It was obviously to my advantage.
When I saw this, I thought "why isn't there any complement after was?"...
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Are YouTube creators using "enjoy" in a new intransitive sense?
Many YouTube creators end their videos with a statement similar to
If you enjoyed, please remember to click the thumbs-up button!
Invariably, there is no explicit direct object for the verb "...
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Was 'offer' in "(...) that no way of reaching that place would offer, till (...)" used as an intransitive verb?
Is offer used as an intransitive verb in the following passage from Moby-Dick?
Much was I disappointed upon learning that the little packet for Nantucket had already sailed, and that no way of ...
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Confusing incorrect question in my grammar book
The workers _________ $1,000 to plant the trees in the garden.
A) paid
B) to pay
C) paying
D) were paid
Can you tell me which answer is right and explain why?
If here is not the right place for ...
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'She looked incredible. Then she looked at me'
Am I correct in saying that the verb 'looked' is intransitive in the first phrase, transitive in the second phrase? Is there a name for this type of rhetorical technique playing on the two senses of ...
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be headed: adjectival -ed vs past participle
(Intransitive) go in particular direction: He headed toward the
station.
(Transitive) cause something to go somewhere: The pilot
headed the plane on a northeasterly course.
-ed2 (suffix): ...
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When to bemoan and when to moan
I've tried looking this up and I've read somewhat unhelpful advice like "to bemoan something is to moan about something".
I am mostly aware when one feels correct, and when one does not, but I'm not ...
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"Say" and "said" as transitive and intransitive verbs
I have an interesting question. Is "say" a transitive verb in the case of direct/reported speech? I understand that it can be a transitive verb in cases like "She said the phrase." or "She says the ...
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This market was finished rebuilding - correct grammar?
On one of the corners of Spitalfields market in London, there's a sign that reads:
"This market was finished rebuilding by R. Homer 1893"
Is this a clumsy sentence? Is it grammatically correct?
...
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She wrote to/ him a letter in France
She wrote him a letter in France
She wrote to him a letter in France
The second sentence is found in Oxford Learners Dictionary.
I think there is some ambiguity in the sentences. ...
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Does a transitive verb always require a direct object?
If a verb is only listed in the dictionary as a transitive verb, can it be correctly used without a direct object, i.e. as an intransitive verb? We can use the verb "force" as an example, which is ...
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Why can go take a gerund? (eg: go shopping; go fishing, go dancing)
I am trying to figure out why go can take a gerund, which is a verb doing the job of a noun, as an object yet the verb go is always intransitive and therefore cannot take an object. I need to make ...
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"impute" as an intransitive verb
I came across a sentence in a Wikipedia article that went like this (MEMRI stands for Middle East Media Research Institute):
In 2006, Finkelstein accused MEMRI of editing a television interview he ...
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How to use "allow to do something" without mentioning a person?
Instead of the probably correct structure:
Our software XYZ allows the user to resize and modify PNG images.
I'm looking for a way to do it without specifying a person (or people):
Our software ...
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How is transitivity defined in CGEL?
This question is specifically for those who are familiar with the 2002
edition of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language by Huddleston
and Pullum.
The book has this passage at ...
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Is "start" used with "fire" as a transitive or an intransitive verb?
Should I say The fire is reported to have started by accident. or The fire is reported to have been started by accident.
P.S:Someone told me to use the former because "by accident" implies that no ...
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In the sentence "The wallet has fallen." Is the verb "fallen" being used in the passive form and is it grammatically correct?
I feel like it is grammatically correct, but as a native speaker I am aware that I will say and write things that are not "by the book" when it comes to grammar.
I also know that you can have a ...
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Verb transitivity in sentences with dummy subjects or with prepositions that look like dummy subjects
Suppose we put in play the rule that lay is used transitively and lies is used intransitively. How do you analyze constructions such as –
Where the responsibility (lies/lay) has yet to be ...
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recent use of "to debrief" in AE as an intransitive verb but no dictionary says it can?
The online OED defines to debrief as follows
transitive
to obtain information from
Examples
Leonov and Belyaev..will stay at the space station for several days to be debriefed (1965)
The online ...
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How did *vegetate* take this meaning despite its etymology?
vegetate
intransitive verb
1 : to lead a passive existence without exertion of body or mind
2 a : to grow in the manner of a plant; also : to grow exuberantly or with proliferation of ...
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Is this "hung" an intransitive verb or a linking verb?
From the ceiling hung the chandelier.
I could not decide whether hung in the previous sentence is a linking verb or an action verb.
Should we rearrange this sentence to see it more easily?
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Can "procrastinate" be a transitive verb?
I recently read in a book about someone who "procrastinated her tax return", which seemed very strange to me. Is this usage common, and if so is it considered correct?
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The intransitive usage of "satisfy"
I lighted upon a sentence in the New York Times:
Actually almost any tidbit — notably pigs in blankets — that the bar sends my way will satisfy.
This usage of satisfy strikes me as uncommon, if ...
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Transitivity of the verb "undertake"
It seems obvious that undertake is intransitive in such sentences as
undertake to learn to swim
State senators undertook to use federal funds for improving schools.
To join the club, you have to ...
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Is "ran" transitive or intransitive in "The boy ran a long distance"? [closed]
The sentence was "The boy ran a long distance."
I answered that the verb "ran" was intransitive. Is it correct ?
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Having an intransitive verb appearing before the subject
The rule says, that you can not have an object after an intransitive verb.
But this sentence, in my opinion, doesn't sound wrong? "Smiling was what the baby was doing."
But is it grammatically ...
