Using transitive and intransitive verbs
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Students' problems | page 2 of 8 |
Omitting the direct object of a transitive verb
Hong Kong students have a tendency to omit the direct object, if it is clear from the context what this is:
Suddenly, my mother shouted to me that she wanted to drink a soft drink. Therefore, I went to buy [^] for her quickly. (TeleNex Students)
In the above example, the student has incorrectly omitted the direct object, either because they think no direct object is necessary, or perhaps because they are not sure what form to use to replace a soft drink. Obviously, the text must be cohesive (which means the speaker or writer will refer back to items previously mentioned); however, a basic stylistic principle is that once a person or thing is introduced, the word is only rarely repeated exactly. The usual strategy is to replace such a noun group with a reference item, typically a pronoun, or a related lexical item:
Suddenly, my mother shouted to me that she wanted to drink a soft drink. Therefore, I went to buy one for her quickly.
Suddenly, my mother shouted to me that she wanted to drink a soft drink. Therefore, I went to buy a coke for her quickly.
For further information about transitive verbs, see 
Using
transitive and intransitive verbs: What is a transitive verb?
For further information about the different ways in which speakers and writers use
substitution to create cohesive text, see Developing cohesion:
Substitution.
Introduction
Omitting the direct object of a transitive verb
