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Transitive and Intransitive Verbs with examples

17th February 2020 By Edify English Leave a Comment

A verb is a word which denotes the action that happens in any sentence. Verbs are of many types, but the most important and fundamental of them are the Transitive and Intransitive Verbs. In this lesson, let us discuss what these the kinds of verbs are along with their examples.

What is a Transitive Verb?

In a sentence, if the action denoted by the verb is related to the object directly, it is known as a transitive verb. Simply put, it passes over the action done by the subject to the object. For example,

Brazil won the World Cup.

In this sentence, the verb “won” is directly related to the object “World Cup” and is passed on from the subject “Brazil”. Hence, the verb “won” is a transitive verb. We can find an answer in this sentence to “who won?” and also to “Who won what?”.

Some more examples for Transitive Verb sentences are:

The kid hit the wall.
He has learnt his lesson.
She found her lost pen.
My father gave me a gift on my birthday.
I gave my sister a mobile phone.
The manager discussed the company strategies with his employees.

All the highlighted words are the verbs in the sentences and each verb has a relation to the object mentioned next to it.

What is an Intransitive verb?

An intransitive verb is a verb which does not pass on from the subject to the object. In such verbs, the words next to the verb are not objects in a way, and only emphasize the verb’s action or a state of being. For example,

The sun rises in the East.

In this sentence, the meaning of the verb “rises” cannot be passed on to the latter part “in the East”. Hence ‘rises’ is an Intransitive Verb.

Some more examples for Intransitive verbs are as follows:

She slept on the sofa.
He is a man.
The moon shone brightly in the night.
He speaks
I don’t feel
The bus stopped
The crocodile fights

The meaning and essence of the verbs mentioned above do not get passed on to the objects in the sentences, and hence are used as intransitive verbs.

Verbs Used both as Transitive and Intransitive

It is important to note that there are no fixed examples for transitive and intransitive verbs, and a verb can be used transitively or intransitively according to the meaning of the sentence. Some verbs can be used both as transitive and intransitive according to the meaning. Here are some examples for verbs of such cases:

Please ring the bell. (Transitive)
The bell is ringing loudly. (Intransitive)

In the same way,

The driver stopped the car. (Transitive)
The train stopped abruptly. (Intransitive)

Note: Sentences where verbs are used intransitively cannot be changed into passive voice.

Click here to learn more about Verbs

Present Tense – Kinds, Structure, Example Sentences

6th May 2019 By Edify English 2 Comments

Present tense is used in every sentence that expresses an action that is happening currently. The four tenses in present tense are as follows.

1. Simple Present Tense

Structure: Subject + Verb 1 (V1) + Object

It used to express:

A habitual action.
- I go for a walk everyday in the morning.
- Raju attends mathematics class every evening.
- He goes to his grandfather’s village every month.
- Federer plays Tennis on Sundays.
- I take my dinner at 8pm.
To express universal truths.
- The sun rises in the east.
- Two plus two equals
- Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.
To describe a future incident that is planned, or certainly is going to happen.
- India plays the world cup cricket this year.
- The President attends the award ceremony this evening.
- That school reopens on the first of June.
If two actions of the future are being talked in a single sentence, one of the actions should be in simple present and the other in simple future tense.
- They shall go when the car arrives.
- Ravi shall eat once the food arrives.

Tip: Whenever the following words are present in the sentence, this particular tense should be used.

Usually	Frequently	Rarely	Seldom
Never	Often	Sometimes	Generally
Always	Everyday	Every week	Monthly
Yearly	Daily	Every month

Note: Some verbs should be expressed in simple present tense and never in present continuous tense. They are:

Love	Hate	Dislike	Like
Understand	Know	Believe	Forget
Agree	Disagree	Own	Belong
Possess	Hear	See	Smell
Taste	Feel	Have	Consist

2. Present Continuous Tense

Structure: Subject + is/am/are + Verb 1 + ing + Object

I – Am, We – Are, You – Are, He – Is, She – Is, It – Is, They – Are

It is used to denote an action that is currently happening.

I am currently working on a project.
The teacher is writing on the blackboard.
She is cooking
That man is mowing the lawn.
They are watching the picture.

Any action that is planned to happen in the near future is also written in this tense.

I am meeting my professor after this lecture.
I am cooking my dinner tonight.

3. Present Perfect Tense

Structure: Subject + has/ have + verb 3 (V3) + Object

It is used to describe the actions that are just completed.

I have just watched a movie.
The bus has just begun.
Ram has just finished his work.
They have just gone out.

Clue: If the sentences have “just, just now, already, so far, yet, recently, ever, lately” in them, this particular tense should be used.

4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense

This tense is used to express any action that has started in the past and is still continuing in the present

Structure: Subject + has/have + been + Verb 1 + ing + object

I have been walking on this path for 2 years.
We have been listening to music since 8 PM.
They have been waiting for their flight for an hour.
It has been crawling on the floor since 2PM.

This tense is mainly used to highlight the time period of the action that is happening.

For remaining Tenses Click here

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Parts of Speech in English Language

3rd January 2019 By Edify English Leave a Comment

Parts of Speech in english language explain different ways words can be used in different contexts. Every word in the English Language functions as at least one Part of Speech. Some words can serve as two or more parts of speech based on the context. The same word can be a Verb in one sentence and a Noun or an Adjective in other sentence. This is an introductory article on Parts of speech.

Parts of Speech

Typically there are Eight Parts of Speech in English language.

Noun
Pronoun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Preposition
Conjunction
Interjection

Introduction to the Eight Parts of Speech in English Language

Noun : A Noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and an abstract idea or a notion.

Example: Donald Trump, New York, Tiger, Book, Happiness.

Click here to learn more about nouns

Pronoun : A Pronoun is a word that replaces a Noun or a group of words used as a Noun. In other words it acts as a substitute for a Noun.

Example: I, We, You, He, She, It, They

Verb : Verbs are the most important words in a sentence. They denote the action or indicate the state of being or existence of the subject.

Example: My brother is a doctor; The cap looks good; She is playing chess.

Adjective : An Adjective is a word that modifies the Noun or Pronoun. It describes the quality, state or action that a Noun or Pronoun refer to.

Example: Ramu is a good boy; He looks ugly in the dress

Adverb : Adverbs are used to say how/ where/ when something happens or even how often something happens. In other words, it enhances the information that we got from the adjective, or a verb or another adverb in a sentence.

Example: He played extremely well in the match.

Preposition : A preposition is a word that begins with a prepositional phrase and shows the relationship between its object and another word in the sentence.

Example: About, On, Beside, Along, For etc.

Conjunction : A Conjunction is a word that joins sentences, words and clauses.

Example: Krishna and Rama play cricket.

Interjection: An interjection is a word used to convey emotions.

Example: Alas! the ex-president is no more.

The detailed explanation on all the Parts of Speech, their classification, usage and related topics will be covered in separate articles.

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