Intransitive verb

“ Note (a) .—The object in the active voice becomes the subject in the passive voice, so that only transitive verbs can properly be used in the passive voice. There are, however, some exceptions to this principle. When an intransitive verb is followed by a phrase made up of a preposition and noun, the intransitive verb may often be used passively with the preposition as an adverbial adjunct; as, I despair of success. Success is despaired of by me. He shot at a bird. ”

“ Many intransitive verbs take an indirect object and are therefore used with the dative (cf. § 153) . Transitive verbs take a direct object in the accusative; but sometimes they have an indirect object or dative as well. The whole question, then, as to whether or not a verb takes the dative, defends upon its capacity for governing an indirect object. A number of verbs, some transitive and some intransitive, which in their simple form would not take an indirect object, when compounded with certain prepositions, have a meaning which calls for an indirect object. ”

“ The beauty of Chinese verbs is that they are all transitive or intransitive at pleasure. There is no such thing as a naturally intransitive verb. The passive form is evidently a correlative sentence, which turns about and makes the object into a subject. That the object is not in itself passive, but contributes some positive force of its own to the action, is in harmony both with scientific law and with ordinary experience. ”

“ Again, adjectives are used as intransitive verbs, as in most Indian languages there is no verb to be used as a predicant or copula. Where in English we would say the man is good, the Indian would say that man good, using the adjective as an intransitive verb, i.e., as a predicant. ”

“ Intransitive verbs are sometimes used impersonally in the passive, as mātūrātur, it is hastened, but there is no advantage in burdening the beginner's mind with that point at this time.
§ 167. II. 3 and 5. It is well to remember that the verb move is always transitive in Latin and in a sentence would have an object. Such expressions, therefore, as you move and you will move are inserted simply for practice on the paradigms.
Vocabulary, p. 288. Have the declension of deus, § 468, learned at this time. ”

“ When I say, The birds fly, the verb fly is intransitive; but when I say, The boy flies the kite, the verb fly is transitive, and governs the noun kite in the objective case. Almost any active intransitive verb, and sometimes even neuter verbs, are used as transitive. The horse walks rapidly; The boy runs swiftly; My friend lives well ”

“ Some verbs have only an intransitive use because they do not express action; as, be, seem, appear, remain, become, etc.
1. Write sentences using the following words as transitive verbs:—
2. Write sentences using the following words as intransitive verbs:—
LESSON XXXV. Point out each verb that is used by itself to make a complete statement, and each verb that is not used by itself to make a complete statement:—
When a verb by itself makes a complete statement, it is called a verb of complete predication ”

“ Active-intransitive and passive verbs, the verb to become, and other neuter verbs, have the same case after them as before them, when both words refer to, and signify, the same thing; as, "Tom struts a soldier;" "Will sneaks a scrivener;" "He was called Cesar;" "The general was saluted emperor;" "They have become fools."
NOTE 1. Active-intransitive verbs sometimes assume a transitive form, and govern the objective case; as, "To dream a dream; To run a race; To walk the horse; To dance the child; To fly the kite." ”

“ The most frequent errors result from using laid, the past tense form of the transitive verb, when the word lay, the past tense form of the intransitive verb, should be used. The ear naturally expects the usual past tense ending of the d or t sound, and as that is absent in the past tense of lie, the past tense form of the other verb is substituted. For the same reason the participle form laid is often incorrectly used for lain. ”

“ They originated from such expressions as I have a letter written, in which have ( = possess) is a transitive verb taking letter for its object complement, and written is a passive participle modifying letter. The idea of possession has faded out of have, and the participle has lost its passive meaning. The use of this form has been extended to intransitive verbs—Spring has come, Birds have flown, etc. being now regularly used instead of the more logical perfect tense forms, Spring is come, Birds are flown. ”

“ There is a sharp contrast between a transitive verb used absolutely and a real intransitive verb. To the former we can always add an object; with the latter no object is possible.
214. Is (in its various forms) and several other verbs may be used to frame sentences in which some word or words in the predicate describe or define the subject (§ 17) .
Such verbs are called copulative (that is, “joining”) verbs.
Is in this use is often called the copula (or “link”) .
Time is money. Grant was a tireless worker. Macbeth became a tyrant. His swans always prove geese. ”

“ Name the verbs in the following sentences that express an action or feeling that goes out from the agent or doer to something else, and the verbs that express an action or feeling that does not go out to anything, but remains with the doer:—
A verb that expresses an action or feeling that goes out from the agent or doer to something else, is called a transitive verb; as, He wrote a letter. We love our friends.
A verb that expresses being, a state, or an action or feeling that does not go out to anything, but remains with the doer, is called an intransitive verb ”

“ To have shunned all shocking innovations, is only to have exercised common prudence. It is not pretended, that any of the Doctor's errors here remarked upon, or elsewhere in this treatise, will startle any body; but, if errors exist, even in plausible guise, it may not be amiss, if I tell of them. To suppose every verb or participle to be either "transitive" or "intransitive," setting all passives with the former sort, all neuters with the latter; (p. 59;) —to define the transitive verb or participle as expressing always "an act DONE by one person or thing to another;" ”

“ Some verbs usually intransitive may become transitive by being followed by a cognate object, that is, one whose meaning is akin to that of the verb, as in the familiar expressions run a race, dream a dream, smile a smile ”

“ Their doctrine is this: "In popular practice it is used in the third person, without the personal termination. Thus, instead of saying, 'He dares not do it;' WE generally say, 'He dare not do it.' In like manner, need, when an active verb, is regular in its inflections; as, 'A man needs more prudence.' But when intransitive, it drops the personal terminations in the present tense, and is followed by a verb without the prefix to; as, 'A man need not be uneasy.'"—Greenleaf s Grammar Simplified, p. ”

“ E. Gr., 39. "Some nouns have no plural; as, gold, silver, wisdom, health; others have no singular; as, ashes, shears, tongs; others are alike in both numbers; as, sheep, deer, means, news"—Day's School Gram., p. 15. "The same verb may be transitive in one sense, and intransitive in another; thus, in the sentence, 'He believes my story,' believes is transitive; but in this phrase, 'He believes in God,' it is intransitive."—Butler's Gram., p. ”

“ In the case of the intransitive verbs, however, as compared with that of the grammatical passive, we do not dwell so much in thought upon an operating cause as constituting the difference between active and passive. ”

“ Transitive verbs generally admit of being used in the passive as well as the active form, as, älska, älskas, 'to love,' 'to be loved;' but intransitive verbs can usually only be employed in an impersonal form in the passive, when they acquire a significance peculiar to the Scandinavian languages ”

“ Active verbs are transitive whenever there is any person or thing expressed or clearly implied on which the action terminates; as, "I knew him well, and every truant knew."--Goldsmith. When they do not govern such an object, they are intransitive, whatever may be their power on other occasions ”

“ What these gentlemen here call "neuter verbs," are only the two words dare and need, which are, in most cases, active, though not always transitive; unless the infinitive itself can make them so—an inconsistent doctrine of theirs which I have elsewhere refuted. (See Obs. 3rd on Rule 5th.) These two verbs take the infinitive after them without the preposition, only when they are intransitive; while all the rest seem to have this power, only when they are transitive. If there are any exceptions, they shall presently be considered. ”

“ This must depend upon usage, and usage must conform to the sense intended. Very many verbs—probably a vast majority—govern an object sometimes, but not always: many that are commonly intransitive or neuter, are not in all their uses so; and many that are commonly transitive, have sometimes no apparent regimen. The distinction, then, in our dictionaries, of verbs active and neuter, or transitive and intransitive, serves scarcely any other purpose, than to show how the presence or absence of the objective case, affects the meaning of the word. ”

“ Vulgarisms, which creep in nobody knows how, are daily depriving the English language of valuable modes of expressing thought. To take a present instance: the verb transpire formerly conveyed very expressively its correct meaning, viz., to become known through unnoticed channels—to exhale, as it were, into publicity through invisible pores, like a vapor or gas disengaging itself. ”

“ A tree puts forth leaves, or a man puts into a lottery. He puts off his clothes, or he puts off a disagreeable task; he puts out his money at interest; or he puts out the light when he goes to bed; and he is terribly put out when things do not go well with him. He can put together his thoughts; but he cannot put up with an insult. It is unpleasant to be put upon; and sometimes very hard to put things to rights.’
The French adverb très (very) , is the Latin ‘trans’ (over, or across.) The prefix ‘trans’ is of frequent use in English as in ‘transfer,’ ‘transfix,’ ‘transform,’ &c. ”

“ After all, the verb of being is fundamentally transitive, and, in some ways, the most transitive of all verbs, and so it is not illogical to bring its powers over the pronoun into accord with the powers exerted by the others. ”

“ When, therefore, we speak of verbs without reference to their regimen, we may, if we please, apply the simple term active to all those which express action, whether transitive or intransitive. "We act whenever we do any thing; but we may act without doing any thing."--Crabb's Synonymes. ”

“ As the verb “have” is translated by tá and the preposition ag, so in a similar manner the verb “own” is translated by the verb IS and the preposition LE. Not only is the verb “to own,” but also all expressions conveying the idea of ownership, such as: The book belongs to me: the book is mine, &c.; are translated by the same idiom.
Notice the position of the words. In translating the verb “have” the verb tá is separated from the preposition ag by the noun or pronoun; but in the case of “own” the verb is and the preposition le come together. ”

“ But, since every language is so full of its own proprieties, that what is beautiful in one is often barbarous, nay, sometimes nonsense, in another, it would be unreasonable to limit a translator to the narrow compass of his author's words; it is enough if he choose out some expression which does not vitiate the sense. I suppose he may stretch his chain to such a latitude, but, by innovation of thoughts, methinks he breaks it. ”

“ Many transitive verbs are formed from intransitive ones, by aspirating the initial letter. If the initial is the first letter of either of the five classes of consonants, it is changed for its corresponding aspirate, the second letter of the class, as ကျ​သည်, to fall, ချ​သည်, to throw down, or cause to fall; ပျက်​သည်, to be ruined, ဖျက်​သည်, to ruin; if the initial is a nasal, or an unclassed letter, it is combined with the letter ဟ, as ညွတ်​သည်, to be bent down, ညွှတ်​သည်, to bend down; လွတ်​သည်, to be free, လွှတ်​သည်, to make free. ”

“ In the English language, the imperative mood of a verb is never conjugated with a pronoun in the nominative case, therefore, "Let you and I try to move it," "Let him and I go up and speak to them," are manifest improprieties. A very simple test may be formed by taking away the first noun or pronoun from the sentence altogether, and bringing the verb or preposition right against that pronoun which you use to designate yourself: thus, "They were coming to see I," "The claret will be packed in two hampers for I," "Let I try to move it," &c. ”

“ A similar sense of an intolerable straining of the medium is sometimes felt in reading Unamuno. The texture of language is stretched to the breaking-point; words are contorted in an endeavour to force them beyond the limits of their capacity; grammar and syntax collapse before the rush of passionate utterance. It is the pressure and drive of a whole personality that seeks to translate itself into words and finds in the end that it is untranslatable. ”

“ In inflectional languages the root is attended by prefixes or suffixes which form inseparable modifiers. At times phonetic changes occur which render the complex unlike the simple joining of its component parts.
As Mr. Sweet says: “If we define inflection as ‘agglutination run mad’ we may regard incorporation as inflection run madder still, for it is the result of attempting to develop a verb into a complete sentence.” In some languages, such as the incorporating, a verb is sufficiently distinct in its meaning not to require an independent pronoun. ”