- Fritz cooked.
In each of these cases, the verb can function either transitively or intransi-
tively.
To repeat:
- Transitive verbs are followed by an object.
- Intransitive verbs are not followed by an object.
Teaching Tip
Nonnative English speaking students, especially those from Asia, frequently
confuse transitive and intransitive verbs. Below are some examples that illus-
trate the problem:- *Yesterday, we graphed in class.
- *They exhausted with too much hard work.
- *The woman struggled the boy who wanted her purse.
- *The taxi traveled us to the airport.
Explaining to students that some verbs are transitive and some are intransitive
doesn’t help them much, although it is an important first step. Fortunately, the
number of intransitive verbs in English is relatively small. An effective ap-
proach is to develop a list of the most commonly used intransitives that stu-
dents can study. Most words not on the list will be transitive and will require a
noun phrase object. Have students refer to the list during the editing phase of
all writing activities, and they will demonstrate rapid improvement.
Usage NotePerhaps one of the more widespread departures from standard usage in-
volves the verbslayandlie.Layis a transitive verb, so it requires an object, as in
Please lay the book on the table. Lie,on the other hand, is an intransitive verb
and cannot take an object. Nevertheless, huge numbers of people uselayintran-
sitively, as in sentence 36:
- ?I’m going to lay down for a nap.
Standard usage is reflected in sentence 37:- I’m going to lie down for a nap.
Part of the confusion seems to be related to the fact thatlayis the past tense
oflie,whereaslaidis the past tense oflay.Then there is the fact thatliealso sig-
nifies a falsehood. Many people can’t keep all these variations straight.
TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR 73