Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

After we discussed Verb, now we're going to continue our discussion into Intransitive and transitive verbs.

1. An intransitive verb cannot take an object, although there can be a prepositional phrase after it.

The man was waiting at the side of the road.
Something unfortunate happened.
The man runs along the beach every morning.

Intransitive verbs usually express actions (people doing things) and events (things happening).

A verb can be intransitive in one meaning and transitive in another. For example,
run is transitive when it means 'manage.
He runs his own business.

2. A transitive verb takes an object.

The man stole a coat.
Everyone enjoyed the conference.
The driver saw the hitch-hiker at the side of the road.
The man had no money.

Transitive verbs can express not only actions (stole) but also feelings (enjoyed), perception (saw) and possession (had).

After some transitive verbs we can leave out the object when it would add little or nothing to the meaning.
The man opposite was reading (a book). We're going to eat (a meal).
A woman was driving (the coach).

We can also leave out the object after these verbs:
ask/answer (a question), draw/paint (a picture), enter/leave (a room/building), pass/fail (a test/exam), play/win/lose (a game), practise (a skill), sing (a song), speak (a few words), study (a subject).

The following verbs can also be without an object if the context is clear: begin, choose, decide, hear, help, know, notice, see, start.

NOTE
There must be an object after discuss and deny.
The committee discussed the problem. He denied the accusation.

3. Many verbs can be either transitive or intransitive.

Transitive Intransitive
The driver stopped the coach.
He opened the door.
I broke a cup.
Someone rang the bell.
The coach stopped.
The door opened.
The cup broke.
The bell rang.

The two sentences can describe the same event. The transitive sentence has as its subject the agent, the person who made the event happen (the driver). The intransitive sentence describes the event but does not mention the agent.

Here are some common verbs that can be transitive or intransitive:
alter, develop, increase, shine, tear, begin, divide, join, shut, turn, bend, drive, melt, slide, weaken, boil, dry, mix, smash, unite, break, end, move, soften, burn, finish, open, sound, change, fly, pour, spread, close, freeze, ring, stand, cook, hang, roll, start, combine, harden, sail, stop, continue, hurt, separate, strengthen, crash, improve, shake, swing.

NOTE
Raise is transitive, and rise is intransitive.
The oil companies will raise their prices.
The price of oil will rise