English grammar

81. Transitive verbs, as we have seen, assert action performed upon some person or thing. There are many other verbs in our language that assert action, but the action is not performed upon anything. On the contrary, the action ends in itself; as in the sentence, “The wind in the chimney sighed and moaned and shivered.” Here the wind is said to perform three actions, but these actions were not received by anything. Verbs like sighed, moaned, and shivered are said to be intransitive verbs.

82. Not all intransitive verbs assert action. The verb be and a few others (see Lesson XXV) which assert merely being, are also intransitive verbs; as, “I am hungry,” “You are kind,” “He is extravagant,” “They were careless.”

83. It frequently happens that the same verb may be used in one sentence as a transitive verb, and in another as an intransitive verb. If we say, “The horse kicked his master,” the verb kicked is transitive. Why? If we say, “The poor boy kicked and squirmed and groaned,” the verb kicked is intransitive. Why?

We should always classify a verb as it is used in the particular sentence under consideration.

Summary.—An intransitive verb is one that asserts (1) being, or (2) action that is not received by any person or thing.

Exercise 1.—Select all the verbs in the following sentences, and classify them as transitive or intransitive. Tell the subject of each verb. If the verb is transitive, tell its object.

1. The princess sat at table next to the king and queen.

2. At these words a grave smile of approval lighted the gaunt face of the Hindu.

3. The spring murmured drowsily beside him. The branches waved dreamily across the blue sky overhead. A deep sleep fell upon David Swan.

4.

While shepherds watched their flocks by night,

All seated on the ground,

An angel of the Lord came down,

And glory shone around.

5. Mr. Jeremy stuck his pole into the mud, and fastened the boat to it.

6. The cat got up and stretched herself, and came and sniffed at the basket.

7. I would have spared the woman who gave thee the milk.

8. His hair had fallen about his shoulders.

9. They sang patriotic songs, they told stories, they fired torpedoes, they frightened the cats.

10. I could have killed a buck while thou wast striking.

11. Away rolled the bogghun, away and away, over the meadows and into the forest; away and away bounded the Princess in pursuit. The golden nose ring flashed and glittered in the sunlight, the golden bangles on her wrists and ankles tinkled and rang their tiny bells as she went. The monkeys swinging by their tails from the branches, chattered with astonishment at us; the wild parrot screamed at us; all the birds sang and chirped and twittered.

12. The chipmunk appeared at the mouth of his den, looked quickly about, took a few leaps to a tussock of grass, paused a breath with one foot raised, slipped quickly a few yards over some dry leaves, paused again by a stump beside a path, rushed across the path to the pile of loose stones, went under the first and over the second, gained the pile of posts, made his way through that, surveyed his course a half moment from the other side of it, and then darted on to some other cover, and presently beyond my range, where he must have gathered acorns, for no other nut-bearing trees than oaks grew near.

Exercise 2.—Tell whether the italicized verbs in the following sentences are transitive or intransitive. Give your reason in each case. If a verb is transitive, tell how it is completed. If it is intransitive, tell how it is modified.

1. All the brooks have burst their icy chains.

2. The boiler burst with a tremendous noise.

3. Do your duty; that is best.

4. Such language will never do for a teacher.

5. Miss Clarissa draws and paints very well.

6. Giotto drew a perfect circle with one sweep of his arm.

7. The swallow flies with a graceful dipping motion.

8. The boys are flying their kites on the common.

9. Give us this day our daily bread.

10. The rope was stretched so tightly that it did not give with his weight.

11. All day he sits in his arm chair and reads.

12. Have you read “The Man without a Country”?

13. The woodworkers have struck for shorter hours.

14. David struck Uriah Heep on the cheek.

15. Aunt Betsy swept down upon the trespassers.

16. I must sweep the spiders off the porch.