Commonsense Composition

12.1. Verbs and Sentence Types http://www.ck12.org

1. The taxi driver seemed like a nice man.


2. The inside of the bakery smells delicious.


3. On that day, Francis became a criminal.


4. It sounds like a good idea!


5. Ms. Yeziersky became a schoolteacher.

Intransitive

An intransitive verb has no complement (noun phrase or adjectival). Though an intransitive verb requires nothing
more than a subject, it is often accompanied by adverbial information. In fact, a handful of intransitive verbs, such
asreside, sneak,andglance,require an adverbial of place in order to be complete.

1. (subject)+(intransitive verb)

TABLE12.5:

Subject Intransitive

The children Wept

My dog Sleeps

2. (subject)+(intransitive verb)+(optional adverbial)

TABLE12.6:

Subject Intransitive Optional adverbial

The children Played On the jungle gym

The meeting Concluded Without a hitch

My dog Snores Loudly

Review Questions

Identify the subject, intransitive verb, and optional adverbial (if present) of each sentence.

1. We went to the bowling alley on Friday.


2. Mr. Billingsworth laughed at the antics of the class clown.


3. The ambassadors from Albania arrived.


4. Rosa walked to the park.


5. The party of boy scouts rested.

Transitive

All transitive verbs have a subject and take one or more complements. Furthermore, all transitive verbs have one
complement in common—thedirect object,which receives the action of the verb.

1. (subject)+(transitive verb)+(direct object [NP])