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Verbs

by bedazzled » Mon Jan 25, 2010 12:44 am
Hey guys,

I was reading Manhattan SC n came across with the topic Active vs Passive voice. There I confronted transitive n intransitive verbs. Its written there that transitive verbs( verbs that take direct objects) can be written in passive voice or

transitive verbs(T) + passive voice (CORRECT)
intransitive verbs(I) + passive voice(INCORRECT)

And there were some examples, such as

The aliens ARRIVED on Neptune in the 24th century.
(Here I can see that arrive is intransitive( as I clearly understood what's intransitive is) but my problem indeed starts from here)

I came across many words & sentences that uses transitive or intransitive verbs
Adduce (T)
but Arrive(I)
hear(T)
& some more.

Now how we actually distinguish verbs (T or I) on the facts that what takes the object or what's not??? Coz its really infuriating sometimes to come across the word that is intransitive n we commit mistakes :evil: coz of that.

Please help on this matter coz it may not b very important topic but I may create illusion :shock: that I simply committed mistake coz I can't distinguish b/w these basic things.

Thanks,
bedazzled
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by komal » Mon Jan 25, 2010 2:15 am
A brief explanation on transitive n intransitive verbs :

Transitive Verbs

My sister broke the window.

In the first sentence, the word that comes after the verb, window, is the object of the verb. We say that window is the object because it receives the action of the verb. All objects of verbs receive the action of the verb.

Here are some more examples of transitive verbs with their objects:

* I sold some books.
* I took the bus.
* I bought a radio.
* I understood her question.
* I wrote a letter.

When a verb has an object that receives the action of the verb, we say that the verb is transitive.


Let's look at the other kind of verb now.

Intransitive Verbs

My father cried.

We can see in this sentence that there is no word after cried. In other words, there is no object for the word--there is no noun to receive the action of the word. Think about it--what could we say? My father cried something. Is there a noun that we could use after cried? We could probably think of one or two nouns, like tears, or even, good-bye, but normally, we do not use the verb cry with an object.

In this case we say that this verb is intransitive because it does not have an object after it.

Here are some more examples of intransitive verbs:

* I slept.
* I coughed.
* The glass fell.
* My cat ran.
* The sun rose.

We should notice that in each case, the subject is doing the action of the verb and nothing receives the action.

It is extremely important to be able to understand whether a verb is transitive or intransitive.

For many verbs in class, if your teacher thinks that the verb is hard to understand, we will ask something like this:

T: Do we cry or do we cry something?

Then, the student should respond something like this:

S: Just cry.

In this case, we would say that cry is intransitive.
BE CAREFUL!!

One reason that understanding this point is so important is that it is very easy to become confused about whether a verb is transitive or intransitive. Consider the following example:

I went to the store yesterday.

Is went transitive or intransitive?

Many people, including native speakers, will tell you that went is transitive since we have many words after went. However:

To say that went is transitive would be a BIG mistake!!

So, what are all those other words after went? First of all, to the store is a prepositional phrase. Second, yesterday is an adverb.


Hope this helps : )[/u]
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by bedazzled » Mon Jan 25, 2010 7:45 am
Thanks Komal.
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by komal » Thu Jan 28, 2010 1:13 am
bedazzled wrote:Thanks Komal.

ur welcome..... wish u all the luck : )
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