Verb types: intransitive, transitive and linking
Intransitive, transitive and linking verbs, direct and indirect objects, ditransitive and complex-transitive verbs, subject and object complements, the seem test, verbs that change type, phrasal and prepositional verbs, and common errors.
What comes after the verb
The verb is the engine of the English sentence, and it decides what may or must follow it. The baby slept is complete. *The baby needed is not: need demands an object. The baby seemed is not complete either, but it needs a different kind of completion, a description of the subject: The baby seemed happy. Sorting verbs by what follows them gives the three main verb types, and these types are the foundation of the basic sentence patterns in the next grading period.
- Intransitive verb (IV) – a verb that needs no object: The baby slept.
- Transitive verb (TV) – a verb that takes a direct object, the receiver of the action: She wrote a letter.
- Linking verb (LV) – a verb that joins the subject to a subject complement describing or renaming it: She is a nurse.
- Subject complement – a noun phrase (predicate nominative) or adjective phrase (predicate adjective) after a linking verb.
- Direct and indirect object – the thing acted on, and the person who receives it or benefits: gave me (IO) a gift (DO).
1. Intransitive verbs
An intransitive verb is complete with its subject alone. It may be followed by adverbials, which tell how, where or when, but never by a direct object.
- The baby slept.
- The guests arrived late. (late is an adverb)
- The students sat under the acacia tree. (under the acacia tree is an adverbial prepositional phrase)
Typical intransitive verbs: arrive, come, go, die, sleep, laugh, cry, happen, occur, exist, rise, lie, sit, fall. Rise, lie and sit are intransitive; their transitive partners are raise, lay and set: The sun rises but She raises her hand.
2. Transitive verbs
A transitive verb takes a direct object, a noun phrase that receives the action. Ask whom? or what? after the verb: She wrote what? – a letter. A transitive sentence can usually be turned into the passive, with the object becoming the subject: A letter was written by her.
Some verbs are always transitive: need, want, make, bring, enjoy, describe, discuss, mention, devour. That is why *I enjoyed and *Let's discuss about the plan are errors: discuss takes its object directly, with no preposition.
Ditransitive verbs
A ditransitive verb takes two objects, an indirect object (usually a person) and a direct object (usually a thing): The teacher gave the class (IO) a quiz (DO). The indirect object can be rephrased with to or for: gave a quiz to the class; bought a gift for her mother. Common ditransitives: give, send, show, tell, teach, offer, lend, bring, buy, make.
Complex-transitive verbs
A complex-transitive verb takes a direct object plus an object complement that describes or renames the object: They elected her president (a noun); The news made us happy (an adjective). The object complement always refers to the object, not the subject. Common verbs: make, call, name, elect, appoint, consider, find, keep, paint.
3. Linking verbs
A linking verb shows no action. It works like an equals sign, joining the subject to a subject complement that renames or describes it.
- Predicate nominative (a noun phrase): Jose Rizal was a doctor. (Rizal = a doctor)
- Predicate adjective (an adjective phrase): The soup tastes salty. (the soup is salty)
The main linking verb is be. Others are verbs of seeming (seem, appear), becoming (become, get, grow, turn, prove, remain, stay) and the senses (look, sound, smell, taste, feel).
The "seem" test
Many of these verbs can also be action verbs. To decide, replace the verb with a form of be or seem. If the sentence keeps its meaning, the verb is linking.
| Sentence | Test | Type |
|---|---|---|
| The flowers smell sweet. | The flowers are sweet. ✔ | linking |
| The dog smelled the food. | *The dog was the food. ✘ | transitive |
| She grew tired. | She became tired. ✔ | linking |
| She grew tomatoes. | *She was tomatoes. ✘ | transitive |
| The children grew quickly. | no object, no complement | intransitive |
| He looked pale. | He seemed pale. ✔ | linking |
| He looked out of the window. | *He seemed out of the window. ✘ | intransitive (with an adverbial) |
Because the complement describes the subject, a linking verb is followed by an adjective, not an adverb: I feel bad about it, not *I feel badly; The music sounds good. Well is correct after feel only when it means healthy: I feel well today.
4. One verb, several types
Like word classes, verb type depends on the sentence, not the dictionary entry. Many verbs work both ways: She reads every night (IV) and She reads novels (TV); The door opened (IV) and He opened the door (TV); The bell rang (IV) and The janitor rang the bell (TV).
5. Phrasal and prepositional verbs
A verb plus a particle can form a single unit with its own meaning and its own type. The plane took off is intransitive; She took off her shoes is transitive. A phrasal verb lets the particle move after the object (turn off the light / turn the light off); a prepositional verb does not (look after the baby, not *look the baby after). With a pronoun object, a separable phrasal verb must separate: turn it off, not *turn off it.
6. Notes for Filipino learners
- Extra prepositions with transitive verbs: *discuss about, *mention about, *emphasize on, *approach to → discuss the plan, emphasize the point.
- Missing objects with always-transitive verbs: *I enjoyed → I enjoyed it / myself.
- Adverbs after linking verbs: *She looks beautifully → She looks beautiful.
- Rise/raise, lie/lay: *Prices raised → Prices rose; *I will lay down for a while → I will lie down.