Download Transitive and Intransitive Verbs and Be Verbs

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs and Be Verbs
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
Transitive verbs need a receiver of the action to complete their meaning.
This receiver of the action is called the DIRECT OBJECT.
EXAMPLE: Bob sang a song.
Bob = subject of sentence
sang = transitive verb
song = direct object (receiver of action)
Intransitive verbs do not have a receiver of the action.
Intransitive verbs are of two kinds:
1. Complete:
Birds fly. (The verb is complete without the help of other words.)
2. Linking:
The old man is sad.
(A linking verb connects the subject with the adjective.)
Dickinson was a great poet.
(A linking verb connects the subject with a noun.)
__________________________________________________________________
The most commonly used linking verb is BE in its various forms:
Present
Singular
I am
you are
he/she/it is
Plural
we are
you are
they are
Past
I was
you were
he/she/it was
we were
you were
they were
Future
I will be
you will be
he/she/it will be
we will be
you will be
they will be
Present Perfect
I have been
you have been
he/she/it has been
we have been
you have been
they have been
Past Perfect
I had been
you had been
he/she/it had been
we had been
you had been
they had been
Future Perfect
I will have been
you will have been
he/she/it will have been
we will have been
you will have been
they will have been
The CMSU Writing Center
Central Missouri State University, Humphreys 116
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs and Be Verbs, page 25