Verb patterns: with and without objects
Verbs: transitive and intransitive uses
Some verbs always need an object. These are called transitive verbs. Some verbs never have an object. These are called intransitive verbs. Some verbs can be used with or without an object. These are called transitive (with an object) and intransitive (without an object) uses of the verbs.
Verbs with an object (transitive)
These verbs are mostly used transitively:
| ask | describe | get | need | take |
| attend | discuss | like | raise | telephone |
| believe | emphasise | join | receive | use |
| buy | enjoy | lose | say | want |
| consider | expect | love | suggest | watch |
| contact | find | make |
Did you enjoy the film*?*
I can’t find her name on the list.
Suzanne took my car keys*.*
These objects (underlined above) are called direct objects.
We don’t need a preposition after these verbs:
- The book emphasises the role of the arts in society.
- Not:
The book emphasises on the role of the arts in society.
- Objects
- Linking verbs
- Want
Verbs with no object (intransitive)
Verbs which are most commonly used intransitively:
| appear | die | lie | sneeze |
| arrive | disappear | live | snow |
| come | fall | rain | wait |
| cough | happen | rise | work |
Suddenly Joss appeared in the doorway.
Rita looked upset – do you know what happened?
Did it rain last night?
Transitive or intransitive
Some verbs can be used with an object (transitively) or without an object (intransitively). Sometimes the meaning is the same. (Objects are underlined.)
Compare
| transitive | intransitive |
| I just can’t eat hot food. | What time do you want to eat? |
| She entered the room looking nervous. | Do not enter. |
| He drives a van for a delivery firm. | I learnt to drive when I was twenty. |
| My father left school when he was fourteen. | We should leave now. |
| She won a competition and got a free trip to Copenhagen. | How was the match? Did you win? |
In these examples, although one use has an object and the other does not, the meaning is more or less the same.
Relationship between verb and subject
Some verbs can be used with or without an object, but the relationship between the verb and the subject is different in each case. When these verbs have an object, the subject does the action. When they have no object, the action or event happens to the subject.
(s = subject; v = verb; o = object)
Compare
| Transitive (the subject does the action) | Intransitive (the action or event happens to the subject) |
| [S]He [V] opened [O] the door and walked in. | [S]The door [V] opened slowly. |
| [S]The teacher always [V] begins [O] each lesson with a quiz. | [S] The interviews [V] will begin at 2.30 pm. |
| They increased my salary last month. | Global temperatures are increasing. |
| Do you know how you work this camera? | How does this camera work? |
Verbs with direct and indirect objects
Some verbs take two objects, a direct object and an indirect object. The indirect object is the person or thing that receives the direct object. The indirect object (underlined in the examples) comes before the direct object (in bold):
| ask | give | make | promise | show |
| bring | hand | offer | save | teach |
| charge | leave | owe | send | tell |
| find | lend | pay | serve | wish |
| fine |
Can I ask you a question?
They charged me £150 for three hours.
She gave her brother an MP3 player for his birthday.
Buying things on the Internet saves people a lot of time.
Prepositional complements can operate as an alternative to indirect objects with some of these verbs:
- (pc = prepositional complement; io = indirect object; do = direct object)
- I gave [DO] an old jacket of mine [PC] to my brother*. (or I gave [IO]* my brother [DO] an old jacket of mine.)
- He owed a lot of money to his parents*.* (or He owed his parents a lot of money.)
- Edith found an excellent violin teacher for us*.* (or Edith found us an excellent violin teacher.)
- Passive
- Complements
Verbs followed by a direct object and a prepositional phrase of time or place
Some verbs take a direct object and a prepositional phrase of time or place:
| bring | lead | send | stand |
| drive | place | set | take |
| lay | put | show |
(do = direct object; pp = prepositional phrase)
Could you stand [DO] that vase of flowers [PP] on the little table*, please?*
You can put [DO] your bag [PP] on the back seat*.*
Verbs followed by a direct object and an -ed clause
Some verbs can be followed by a direct object (underlined) and a clause containing the -ed form of a verb:
| feel (oneself) | have | need |
| find | leave | want |
| get | like |
I get my car mended locally.
They had the whole house repainted.
We need everything cleaned and tidied by the end of the day.
- Get passive
- Have
Verbs followed by a wh-clause as direct object
Wh-clause as direct object
Many verbs which can be followed by a that-clause can also be used with a clause beginning with who, what, when, where, which, whose, why or how as the direct object. We call these wh-clauses (underlined in the examples below):
| arrange | consider | enquire | imagine | predict | show |
| ask | decide | explain | judge | prove | tell |
| care | depend | find out | know | realise | think |
| check | discover | forget | learn | remember | wonder |
| choose | discuss | guess | mind | say | |
| confirm | doubt | hear | notice | see |
Miriam explained how she had done it*.*
I didn’t realise who it was at first*.*
Can you remember what they told us at the hotel*?*
Wh-clause + to-infinitive
Many of the verbs which can be followed by a wh-clause can also be followed by a wh-clause with to-infinitive (underlined below):
| arrange | decide | find out | learn | show |
| ask | discover | forget | notice | tell |
| check | discuss | imagine | remember | think |
| choose | enquire | judge | say | wonder |
| consider | explain | know | see |
We discussed what to do about the community hall*.*
I really don’t know who to suggest as a replacement for Jim*.*
Can you see how to put paper into this printer*?*