intransitive
1
7.2
- adjective
- /ˌɪnˈtrænzɪtɪv/
- Specialized
:
intransitivo
- The difference between transitive and intransitive verbs is important for understanding sentence structure.
- intransitive and transitive
- intransitive verb
Examples
-
Verbs such as 'run' and 'sleep' are classified as intransitive because they do not take a direct object.
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I'll find myself standing in front of the class, drawing a line on the board and writing transitive verbs here, on this side, and intransitive on the other, and they won't have a clue as to what I'm doing.
Fiction book (1994) -
The two processes are both intransitive and do not seem to have any connection with each other.
Academic text (2005) -
Avoid the intransitive verb "to be" when you can.
Academic text (2010) -
Examples of these are turn and bounce, which can be either transitive or intransitive.
Academic text (2012) -
Grammatically speaking, the verb wrecks in line 3 (in the regularized version) can be read in two ways, as either intransitive or transitive.
Academic text (2006) -
Many intransitive verbs, like 'arrive' and 'fall,' describe actions that do not transfer to an object.
Synonyms
A verb that does not need something after it
A label that shows a verb cannot have a direct object
Antonyms
Compounds
- Specialized
A word that shows an action or state and does not need a thing after it
How Transitive
- Specialized
4
7.0
- Specialized
1
7.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
intransitive = transitive (semi-transparent) = in + transit + ive
For learners who know the grammatical adjective 'transitive', adding negative 'in-' gives the meaning directly.
Etymology
The word intransitive comes from the Latin parts in- meaning 'not' and transire meaning 'to go across', the same root you see in transit. So an intransitive verb is one where the action does not 'go across' to a direct object.