Transitive vebrs are the ones that take a direct object, without the object the sentence would be incomplete.For example you say:
Los verbos transitivos son los que toman algun tipo de objeto sobre el cual recae la accion.
She wrote a book. = Ella escribio un libro, Que escribio?...un libro (objeto directo)
Well good for for her, what do I care. No, jeje, the point is you CAN NOT say:
She said.... (period) Aqui no podemos decir "Ella dijo...." y nada mas, se necesita el objeto.
She said something. = Ella dijo "algo". Que dijo? .... "algo" (objeto directo)
Hay verbos que pueden funcionar transitiva e intransitivamente, por ej. el verbo walk (caminar)
He is so drunk he can barely walk. (El esta tan borracho "que" el apenas puede caminar)
He walks a mile every morning. (El camina una milla todas las mañanas)
En la segunda oracion "a mile" es el objeto directo.
For example take a look at the verb "sleep". You can say:
I sleep twelve hours a day. (lucky son of a bi....) (yo duermo 12 hs por dia)
*Noten que 12hs por dia no es objeto de el verbo dormir, es solo un adverbio. La accion de dormir no recae sobre las 12 hs. El que duerme soy yo. jaja
No object there. But you can also say:
The hotel sleeps 120 guests. ("120 guests" is the direct object)
Intransitive verbs are the ones that DO NOT take a direct object. Surprised?? guess not.
Los verbos intransitivos no necesitan objeto.
He died suddenly. (El murio repentinamente)
The verb "die" here is intransitive here, "suddenly" is just an adverb. The poor bastard just died.
A ditransitive verb — such as cause or give — is one that can take both a direct object and an indirect object at the same time.
Un verbo ditransitivo toma objeto directo y objeto indirecto.
He gave Mary ten dollars. El le dio a mary diez dolares
("Lucky Mary" is the direct object and "ten dollars" is the indirect object)
Well, for those of you who are thinking "what the hell do I care about transitivity??"
Remember passive voice punk?? Most transitive verbs can be used in the passive, whereas intransitive verbs CAN NOT be used in the passive,
but why? Well ,that`s easy, It`s because the subject of a in the passive is the object of a transitive verb in the active voice.
ACTIVE PASSIVE
I built a house. The house was built by me.
Yo construi una casa. La casa fue construida por mi.
"la casa", objeto directo en la primer oracion, pasa a ser sujeto en la segunda. Y "by me" es el agente, quien realiza la accion. El agente se puede omitir en la voz pasiva.
"house" is the direct object in the first sentence, but it`s the subject in the second sentence. So as intransitive verbs do not have an object, how in earth can we transform them into the passive?? We can`t.
for example:
I fell down the stairs.
In this sentence "fell" is intransitive, "down the stairs" is just a place adverbial. And the fact that I was quite drunk is just the cause :D.....
The point is that this sentence can not be transformed into passive voice. You can say:
I fell. (yo cai)
Well, it`s a very short and stupid sentence, but from the point of view of grammar, It`s OK.
But you CAN NOT say:
*I was fallen (yo fui caido) WRONG !!!!!
OK, that`s it for now. If you see any misstakes please let me know.
