Using transitive and intransitive verbs

ovv.gif (1291 bytes) Overview page 3 of 5

Subject, verb and object

So how does English represent actions and events?

Actions and events can usually be broken down into three core components:

bullet.gif (991 bytes) the participants, ie people or things which are directly involved in the action or event (represented by subject and object )

    They kicked a tin-can round the field. (Microconcord Corpus B)
participant 1          participant 2
    subject                     object
bullet.gif (991 bytes) the action or event itself (represented by the verb)

    They kicked a tin-can round the field. (Microconcord Corpus B)
              action
bullet.gif (991 bytes) the circumstances, ie the "where", "how", "when" and "why" associated with the action or event (Note that this is an optional element represented by an adverbial gloss.gif (923 bytes) or complement gloss.gif (923 bytes).)

    They kicked a tin-can round the field. (Microconcord Corpus B)
                                         circumstance
                                                         adverbial
For further information about circumstances, see Representing when, where, how and why: Overview.

09cover.gif (983 bytes) Introduction
09cover.gif (983 bytes) Focusing on actions and events
square.gif (58 bytes) Subject, verb and object
09cover.gif (983 bytes) Verbs which can be used transitively and intransitively with the same meaning
09cover.gif (983 bytes) Files relating to transitive and intransitive verbs