Intransitive verb facts for kids

In English, an intransitive verb is an action that involves the object or person doing the action by itself. For example: "The door opened." (by itself) This contrasts with a transitive verb, where the action is done by someone or something else, i.e.: "The person opened the door."

What is a verb?

Before we dive into intransitive verbs, let's quickly review what a verb is. A verb is a word that describes an action or a state of being. Think of it as the action word in a sentence. For example:

• Run: This describes the action of running. • Jump: This describes the action of jumping. • Sleep: This describes the state of being asleep. • Is: This describes a state of being.

Verbs are super important because they tell us what is happening in a sentence. Without verbs, sentences would be boring and lifeless!

Transitive and intransitive verbs

Now, here's where it gets interesting. Verbs can be either transitive or intransitive. The difference lies in whether the verb needs an object to complete its meaning.

• Transitive verbs: These verbs need an object. The object is the thing receiving the action of the verb. Think of it as the "who" or "what" the verb is acting upon.

For example:

• The boy kicked the ball. ("Kicked" is the transitive verb. "Ball" is the object receiving the kicking action.)
• 'The girl read a book. ("Read" is the transitive verb. "Book" is the object.)
• The dog chased the squirrel. ("Chased" is the transitive verb. "Squirrel" is the object.)

• Intransitive Verbs: These verbs do not need an object. They describe an action or state of being that doesn't affect anything else.

For example:

• The bird flew. (The verb "flew" doesn't need an object. The bird flew, but it didn't fly something.)
• The sun shone. ("Shone" doesn't need an object. The sun shone, but it didn't shine something.)
• He sleeps. ("Sleeps" is an intransitive verb. He sleeps, but he doesn't sleep something.)

Intransitive verbs and their different forms

Intransitive verbs can be used in various ways and tenses (past, present, future). Let's look at some examples with the verb "walk":

• Present Tense: The dog walks. • Past Tense: The dog walked. • Future Tense: The dog will walk.

You can see that regardless of the tense, "walk" remains intransitive because it doesn’t require an object.

Intransitive verbs with prepositional phrases

Sometimes, intransitive verbs appear with prepositional phrases. These phrases add extra information, but they don't change the verb's intransitive nature.

• The bird flew over the house. (flew is still intransitive) • He sleeps in his bed. (sleeps is still intransitive) • She walked to the store. (walked is still intransitive)

The prepositional phrases tell us where the action happened, but they aren't the object of the verb. The verb still doesn't need an object to complete its meaning.

Common intransitive verbs

• Sleep: The baby sleeps soundly.
• Walk: The man walks quickly.
• Run: The cheetah runs fast.
• Swim: The fish swims in the ocean.
• Fall: The leaves fall from the trees.
• Rise: The sun rises in the east.
• Grow: The plant grows tall.
• Appear: A rainbow appeared in the sky.
• Disappear: The magician made the rabbit disappear.
• Exist: Dinosaurs existed millions of years ago.

Intransitive verbs and linking verbs

A special type of intransitive verb is a linking verb. Linking verbs don't show action; they connect the subject to a word that describes or identifies it. The most common linking verb is "to be" (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been). Other linking verbs include: seem, become, appear, feel, smell, taste, sound, look.

• The cake is delicious. ("is" links "cake" to the description "delicious".)
• He became a doctor. ("became" links "he" to the description "a doctor".)
• The flowers smell sweet. ("smell" links "flowers" to the description "sweet".)

Remember, these linking verbs are a special kind of intransitive verb because they don't take an object.

See also

In Spanish: Verbo intransitivo para niños