Transitivity

 

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Transitivity is something that will be talked about a lot. Here, I will explain what it means.

 

Verbs usually have two arguments, the thing doing the action, and the thing the action is being done to.

 

In the sentence: "I eat rocks", there is:

- the thing doing the verb, "I" (Subject)

- and the thing the verb is being done to, "rock" (Object)

 

In this case, the verb "eat" would be called Transitive because it takes both the doer and the receiver, (subject and an object)

 

Verbs can also have only one argument, such as in the sentence "I eat". Since in this case there is only one argument, the doer "I" (subject), the verb "eat" is Intransitive.

 

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Recap:

 

Transitive verbs have two arguments, the Subject and the Object, where the Subject does the action to the Object:

I eat a rock.

 

Intransitive verbs have only one argument, the Subject:

I eat.