Questions: Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

Question 1

In the sentence 'She runs every morning,' is 'runs' transitive or intransitive — and how can you tell?

• A. Transitive — running is an action verb, and all action verbs require a direct object
• B. Intransitive — asking 'Runs what?' yields no meaningful answer; the verb is complete without an object
• C. Transitive — 'every morning' is the direct object of 'runs'
• D. It is impossible to determine without knowing whether she runs fast or slow

Answer: (B)

The test for transitivity is: ask 'What?' or 'Whom?' after the verb. 'She runs what?' has no sensible answer — the action is self-contained. So 'runs' is intransitive here. Option A states the common misconception that all action verbs are transitive; many actions (run, sit, laugh, arrive, sleep) are intransitive. Option C misidentifies a time adverbial ('every morning') as a direct object.

Question 2

Which of the following sentences uses its verb as TRANSITIVE?

• A. The baby laughed.
• B. She reads every night.
• C. He ate the entire pizza.
• D. The stars shone.

Answer: (C)

In 'He ate the entire pizza,' asking 'Ate what?' gives a clear answer: the entire pizza. The pizza is the direct object, making 'ate' transitive. In all the other sentences — 'laughed,' 'reads' (with no object specified), 'shone' — asking 'What?' or 'Whom?' after the verb yields no required answer, so those verbs are intransitive in those sentences.

Question 3

A verb like 'eat' is permanently either transitive or intransitive — its category does not change from one sentence to another.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

Many verbs can be both transitive and intransitive depending on context. 'She eats' (intransitive — no object needed) versus 'She eats salad' (transitive — 'salad' is the direct object). Transitivity is a property of the verb *in a particular sentence*, not of the verb in isolation. This is why the 'What? / Whom?' test must be applied sentence by sentence.

Question 4

In a transitive sentence, removing the direct object makes the sentence feel incomplete or raises an immediate question.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: True

This incompleteness is the diagnostic test. 'She threw.' immediately invites 'Threw what?' — the action feels unfinished without a receiver. By contrast, 'She arrived.' is perfectly complete: 'Arrived what?' makes no sense. The felt incompleteness signals that the verb is transitive and requires an object.

Question 5

How would you determine whether a verb is transitive or intransitive in a given sentence? Explain the test and why it works.

Model answer: Ask 'What?' or 'Whom?' immediately after the verb. If the question demands an answer for the sentence to feel complete, the verb is transitive — it transfers the action to a direct object. If the question produces no meaningful answer and the sentence is already complete, the verb is intransitive. The test works because transitive verbs by definition require a receiver; the felt incompleteness without one is the signal.

For example: 'She built ___?' — something is clearly missing; 'built' is transitive. 'He slept ___?' — no answer is needed; 'slept' is intransitive. Applying this test sentence-by-sentence handles verbs that can be both (like 'read' or 'eat'), because the context determines whether an object is present and required.