Transitive and Intransitive Verbs!

Remember what nouns are? A person, place thing or idea!

Transitive Verbs Read the sentence below. Joe held the baby. What is the subject? What is the verb? What did Joe hold? Is that a noun? THEN YOU HAVE A TRANSITIVE VERB!

Remember! For a verb to be transitive, the action must be directed towards a NOUN.

Let’s try another one! Loretta brought flowers. What is the subject? What is the verb? What did Loretta bring? Is that flowers a noun? Do we have a transitive verb?

Now you try it! Is the verb transitive? Our scout troop made a quilt.

Yes it is! The scout troop MADE a quilt. “quilt” is a noun (thing). So the verb is transitive!

Hold on now… We’re not done yet!

Intransitive Verbs are next! These are verbs that do not express action towards a noun.

Here’s what an intransitive verb looks like… The Evans twins played quietly indoors the whole day. What is the verb? The Evans twins played what? Is quietly a noun? So it CANNOT be a transitive verb, and therefore is intransitive.

Let’s try another one! Mrs. Stout cried very loudly when her students failed the test. What is the verb? How did Mrs. Stout cry? Is loudly a noun? Then what type of verb do we have?

Yes! It’s intransitive!

Let’s practice. Mrs. Stout swam ten laps. My husband swims very well. Mrs. Stout read aloud to the class. Mrs. Stout read a book on the very first day. The voters decided to elect him. I can’t believe how quickly the dog chased the cat. Mrs. Jones rides horses. The cowboys rode cattle trails for days. The team celebrated by having pizzas.

Whoa!!! What type of verb is that… transitive, intransitive, action, or linking? This morning, I woke up and felt really sleepy. I thought to myself, “I really don’t want to go to work today.” But then I thought about how great my students are and how much I care about them. I thought about how they make me laugh and always put me in a good mood. They are amazing students! I could not imagine life without them.