Transiti

ve and

intransiti

ve ve

rbs

A very important point they don’t teach enough about!

A transitive verb has an object:

Give the book to your neighbor.

An intransitive verb has no object:

It’s rude to laugh at people

Some verbs are always transitive:

GiveTakePutBuySay

Some verbs are always intransitive:

LaughSleepLiveDieTalk

Listen

Some verbs can be transitive or intransitive, depending on the

sentence:

I’m studying English (transitive).I don’t have time to study.

(intransitive)

**Talk English

We say “speak English,” not “talk English” because talk is an intransitive

verb and it doesn’t have an object.

You can say:

The baby is learning to talk.She’s talking too loud.

I need to talk to the boss.(A prepositional phrase is not an object for

the verb.)

“Speak” can be transitive or intransitive.

I can speak Chinese (transitive).Please don’t speak to me

(intransitive).

speak (intransitive) = talk

Speak to me = Talk to meDon’t speak so loud = Don’t talk so

loud.

However, if there is an object, you have to use “speak” and not

“talk” because can only be intransitive and speak can be

transitive:I’m learning to speak English.

I can’t speak Chinese.