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Transitive and Intransitive Verbs Posted by on Mar 13, 2009 in Grammar

A reader has asked me to explain the difference between verbi transitivi (transitive verbs) and verbi intransitivi (intransitive verbs), so I’ll try my best. This is always a difficult but, none the less, important topic in Italian grammar. OK, let’s start.

Transitivo comes from Latin transire meaning ‘to pass’, ‘to cross’, ‘to go beyond’, therefore it describes actions that move from the subject or doer directly to an object, without having to use a preposition such as ‘to’, ‘at’, etc. The classic example we learn at school is: io mangio la mela (I eat the apple); in this sentence io is the subject of the verb, mangio is the transitive verb, and la mela is the direct object or accusative. Of course we don’t always express the direct object, for example: la sera mangio presto (in the evening I eat early), the idea of ‘dinner’, ‘meal’, ‘food’ is implicit but not expressed. Similarly, we can say Giovanni guida la macchina per andare a lavorare (Giovanni drives the car to go to work), in which guidare is a transitive verb because it is followed by a direct object, la macchina. However I can omit ‘la macchina’ and simply say Giovanni guida per andare a lavorare, the idea of the car being implicit.

Intransitivo means ‘non transitive’, that is: the action does not pass from the subject to the object directly. Verbs which don’t express an action but rather a state or a condition, such as essere (to be), stare (to stay), divenire (to become), etc. are intransitive, as are verbs which express movement: andare (to go), venire (to come), arrivare (to arrive), etc. After these types of verbs we can add information about ‘where’, ‘when’, ‘how’, ‘how long for’, etc. e.g. sto in ufficio tutto il pomeriggio (I’m in the office all afternoon); Giovanni va al lavoro in macchina (Giovanni goes to work by car); il treno e’ arrivato in ritardo (the train arrived late). We can’t however express a direct object.

Verbi riflessivi (reflexive verbs) are considered intransitivi because the action takes place on the subject itself, therefore the reflexive verb lavarsi (to wash oneself) as in mi lavo le mani (‘I wash my hands’ or more literally ‘I wash myself the hands’) is intransitive, but lavare (to wash) as in io lavo il piatto (I’m washing the plate) is transitive!  You can find out more about reflexive verbs in last week post.

Don’t forget that verbs which are transitive in Italian may be intransitive in English and vice versa. For example ascoltare (to listen): in Italian we say ascolto una canzone (I’m listening to a song), however we don’t use the preposition ‘a’ (to) and therefore it’s a transitive verb because ascolto is followed by a direct object, una canzone (a song). In English on the other hand it’s intransitive because you use the preposition ‘to’ after ‘listening’ i.e. ‘I’m listening to a song’. Yes I know it’s confusing, but if you really get stuck a good bilingual dictionary can help you with individual verbs. When you look up a verb in your dictionary you should find that immediately after the word, and before the translation, there is a little acronym: either vt/v.tr which is short for verbo transitivo, or vi/v.intr, short for verbo intransitivo. So when you want to know if an Italian verb is transitive or intransitive always look in the Italian to English section of your dictionary. At the end of the day it is always important to listen to, and read as much of the language as possible in order to reinforce and assimilate these grammatical rules. After a while you will begin to ‘feel’ what is right and what is wrong.

But why is all of this so important? Are we just being pedantic or sadistic? I know it feels like it sometimes, but there is in fact a further very important reason for learning these grammatical rules: knowing the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs will help you to understand which auxiliary verb to use in the past tense: essere or avere?

In the past tense all transitive verbs are built with the auxiliary avere: e.g. Ho mangiato la mela (I ate the apple)

all verbs used in the reflexive form are built with essere: e.g. Mi sono svegliato alle sette (I woke up at seven o’clock)

all verbs expressing a state or condition are built with essere: e.g. Sei stata in ufficio questa mattina? (Have you been in the office this morning?) 

For the rest of the intransitive verbs you’ll need help from the dictionary as there isn’t a fixed rule! For example: siamo andati al mercato (we’ve been to the market) but abbiamo camminato fino al mercato (we walked to the market)

Buona Fortuna!

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Comments:

  1. jimmy:

    Hi,

    I’m currently learning Italian and last lesson we went over intr/tr verbs briefly, so i looked around and found your article. It definitely clears things up a big, i guess you just have to practice the intr and tr verbs and just drum them into your head.

    • Serena:

      @jimmy Ciao Jimmy, yes, it’s just a matter of practice. Take every opportunity to speak Italian and listen to native speakers and it will gradually become natural. Ci vuole tempo e pazienza.

      Saluti da Serena

      • Abdulai Fofanah:

        @Serena This article is really great and I now understand more than before and thanks.

  2. jdk:

    i understood very well
    thanks

  3. Josephine Fucile:

    Thank you Serena, I find your blogs on grammar very very helpful. You put things very clearly and easy to understand, it is hard to learn the many different ways in Italian language compared with the English.
    Thanks again.
    Josephine.

  4. Nathan:

    I appreciate your article. While I’ve gone over and over the Transitive/Intransitive in class and on my own, this has cleared it up even more for me. Thanks again.

    • Brian:

      @Nathan I think alot of people are put off gramnar because a lot of it sounds “latin ” origin. I meant how do you explain “accusative ? ” who is being accused ?
      It can be a minefield, that’s why learning in context is so important, using the language and not getting stuck with grammar. Learn the language through practical use, not by endless grammar .

  5. Janet Thomas:

    Hi Serena

    I have really wrestled with transitive/intransitive verbs. Initially I thought I had it figured out, then became more confused. Your explanation is very clear and I have just sent in my email address to subscribe to your blog website. I have been studying Italian for 6 months now and am heading to Florence in September to do a month at the Istituto. I want to be as well prepared as possible.

    Thanks so much for your help.

    Janet

  6. Jackie Thomas:

    Grazie Serena, you make it very easy to understand 🙂

  7. Kathryn:

    Now I know why I insert extra “di”s in sentences where they don’t belong and no one is there to explain it to me. (Just me and a cd in the car). Thanks 🙂

  8. Susana Pasciullo:

    Gracias Serena, mi lengua materna es el español, vivo en Buenos Aires, Argentina, pero las mejores explicaciones de la gramática italiana las encuentro en inglés, especialmente en vuestro sitio.
    Nuevamente, grazie, thank you, gracias, merci.
    Susana

  9. Lesley:

    Grazie Serene, adesso ho capito meglio i verbi!

  10. RITA KOSTOPOULOS:

    SERENA,
    DA PARTE MIA E DEI MIEI STUDENTI DELLA SCUOLA PER ADULTI IN LONG BEACH ISLAND,N.J. PER TUTTI I BLOGS CHE ARRIVANO COME LA MANNA DAL CIELO. SONO DI GRANDE AIUTO PER TUTTI. IO MI SONO LAUREATA IN LINGUE E DOPO 38 ANNI D’INSEGNAMENTO NELLA SCUOLA PUBBLICA ME NE SONO ANDATA IN PENSIONE MA IL DESIDERIO E L’AMORE PER LA MIA LINGUA NATIA MI SPINSE A CONTINUARE LA MIA VOCAZIONE PRESSO THE FOUNDATION OF THE ARTS AND SCIENCES NELL’ISOLA. I MIEI STUDENTI,BENSI DI UNA CERTA ETA’, SONO MOLTO ETUSIASTICI E BRAVI ED IO SONO MOLTO CONTENTA DEL LORO PROGRESSO. ANCORA UNA VOLTA, MILLE GRAZIE E TANTI AUGURI ANCHE PER GEOFF I BLOGS.RITA SGRO’KOSTOPOULOS

    • Serena:

      @RITA KOSTOPOULOS Salve Rita, grazie infinite per i complimenti. Mi fa sempre molto piacere sapere che i miei articoli sono utili. Complimenti per il tuo italiano e tanti auguri per la tua classe.

      Saluti da Serena

  11. Larry:

    I’m just getting off the ground with Italian and stumbled when trying to master the tr/intr verb rules. Your in-detail guidance is now part of my study material. Grazie!

  12. jay:

    Nice article. It helped me a lot!

  13. John:

    Thank you for your wonderful explanations. Here is a problem for me: have you seen my keys? Hai visto le mie chiavi? But everywhere I look I see “Si, Li ho visti.” Number agrees but not gender. Can this be???

  14. Rowan:

    Hi Serena,

    Following on from everyone else’s comments, this post is great. Super helpful. I’ll definitely be using this site more often to support my Duolingo/self-study Italian lessons.

    I actually came across this entry because I was looking for some grammatical guidelines for when to use (and not to use) prepositions with verbs. If I understand correctly, as a general rule: transitive verbs do not require a preposition to follow, whereas intransitive verbs do.

    For example – “entro nel negozio” – for me, the verb ‘to enter’ implies the inward movement suggested by the preposition, however the dictionary (and your post) lists it as an intransitive verb because it is suggesting motion. Furthermore, in the sentence “aspetto la chiamata,” the verb “aspettare” does not require a preposition (‘for’) because it is transitive, even though we would say “I wait for the call.”

    Is this the case? If so, are there any exceptions that are worth keeping in mind?

    RingrazandoLa anticipatamente!

    • Serena:

      @Rowan Salve Rowan!
      Sono contenta che che il nostro blog ti sia utile.
      There aren’t any exceptions, but we must understand that the fact that a verb is transitive in Italian it doesn’t mean that it’s transitive in English and vice versa, as you can see from the examples given (i.e. aspettare is transitive in Italian but not in English). Another example: telefonare a qualcuno (intransitive verb), but ‘to phone somebody’ (transitive verb), etc. A good dictionary will help you, that is, if you look up ‘aspettare’ it will tell you v.t.= verbo transitivo; if you look up ‘wait’ it will tell you i.v. = intransitive verb. There is no magic formula, you’ll need to memorize them!
      Saluti da Serena

  15. Lucille:

    C’e qualcuno che mi puo’ chiarire transition e intransitino noe modo piu’ facile.
    Grazie mille

    • Geoff:

      @Lucille Salve Lucille. Firstly I suggest that you learn the appropriate terminology: transitivo (transitive)and intransitivo (intransitive). They are clearly used throughout this blog, so if you still can’t manage to spell them I doubt that you have read through it carefully.
      If you take the time to study the blog it will give you all the answers that you need.

      Saluti da Geoff

      • Angela Amato:

        @Geoff Intransitivo.. answers to where and uses essere for the helping verb.( can be irregular also) I go ..where?..Sono andanta in Italia. You must change the verb to be masculine or feminine. I am female so I say …sono andat(a) for masculine Lui e andat(o) in Italia. This rule of changing to masc. or fem is only with essere..not with Transitive when you use avere for the helping verb.
        Transitivo answers to what.. I spoke what ( the language) Ho parlato la lingua..Ho mangiato la male.

        • Serena:

          @Angela Amato Salve Angela! Thank you for your comment.
          I don’t know where you got your information from, but I’m afraid it’s incorrect.
          You said that “Intransitivo.. answers to where and uses essere. Transitivo answers to what and uses avere.”
          Let’s have a look at some examples:
          the verb “diventare” (to become) answers to “che cosa” (what), so it should be a transitivo and use avere. Instead, “diventare” is intransitivo and uses “essere”, e.g. Lucia è diventata una bella ragazza (see this link: https://www.garzantilinguistica.it/ricerca/?q=diventare)

          On the other hand verbs such as “abitare” (to live), “camminare” (to walk), “nuotare” (to swim), are all intransitive and answer to “dove” (where), but in the past they use the verb “avere”, not “essere”, e.g. “ho abitato in Inghilterra per molti anni” (I lived in England for many years); ieri abbiamo camminato in montagna” (yesterday we walked in the mountains); l’estate scorsa ho nuotato nel Lago di Garda” (last summer I swam in the Lake Garda).

          As I said numerous times, the intransitive verbs don’t follow a fixed rule.

          Saluti da Serena

    • Angela Amato:

      @Lucille salve

  16. Nemanja:

    Hi everybody ,is it exist important reason to we now difference amongst reflexive and non reflexive verbs in Italian .

    • Geoff:

      @Nemanja Sorry Nemanja, we don’t understand your question.

  17. Ciaran:

    Very helpful explanation indeed. I do find the background of diagnonal lines very visually disturbing though, and it makes it difficult for me to read the text in peace. If they were not there, (where there is text), it would be a big improvement for me. molto grazie!

    • Geoff:

      @Ciaran Ciao Ciaran, thanks for your comment. To be honest, we’d never noticed the diagonal lines. We’re not responsible for the background design of the web site, just the typeface, type colour, and images on the actual blog. However, I’ll pass your observations along to our manager, va bene?
      Have a look at some of our more recent blogs. We now use a bigger typeface, so you may find the lines less distracting. You could also check the contrast settings on your monitor if you’re using a computer.

      A presto, Geoff 🙂

  18. shaji:

    Grazie… Ciao

  19. Tricia:

    Salve, I have just come across your site when looking up help on transitive and intransitive verbs. Very useful. My difficulty is with those verbs that can take both and I don’t understand how I work out which one to use: please can you help?
    Example from i miei compiti:
    L’ape e’ volata via dal diore.
    Per andare in Spagna io ho volato con Iberia.
    Grazie mille

    • Christine Percival:

      @Tricia Dear Tricia,
      I hope you get this message and I thought it would be important to reply to you as I am one of the viewers that has followed this blog for several years. Unfortunately Geoff and Serena no longer provide the blog personally which was absolutely fabulous. I have printed out every single blog that they have done and put them into notebooks in alphabetical order which helps immensely. However you can go into the archives and look at the grammar and you can gather more information that might be helpful. There is a new gal that has taken over the blog and she is delightful and also very helpful and informative. If you have any questions let me know,
      Best,
      christine


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