1. what is transitive and intransitive verbs

Transitive verbs are action verbs that have an object to receive that action. In the first sentence above, the direct objectballreceived the action of the verbhit.

Here are some more examples of transitive verbs:

I baked some cookies.

I rode the bicycle.

I moved the chair.

I stitched a quilt.

All of the verbs in the above sentences are transitive because an object is receiving the action of the verb.

But what about the sentence The bird sang. Is the verb in that sentence a transitive verb? No, in this case the verbsangis an intransitive verb.

Intransitive verbs areaction verbsbut unlike transitive verbs, the do not have an object receiving the action. Notice there are no words after the verbsang.

More examples of intransitive verbs:

I laughed.

I cried.

The book fell.

The horse galloped.

The sun set.

In all of the above cases the subject is performing the action of the verb and nothing is receiving the action.

What about this sentence?

I walked to the park today.

Is walked transitive or intransitive? Think about the rules. Since walked has words coming after it, the verb must be transitive, right? WRONG! The phraseto the parkis a prepositional phrase andtodayis an adverb. There is no object receiving the action of the verbwalkedso the verb is intransitive.

To recap, a transitive verb must be an action verb plus there must be an object to receive that action.