{"id":8581,"date":"2015-02-09T16:49:00","date_gmt":"2015-02-09T16:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=8581"},"modified":"2015-02-09T16:49:15","modified_gmt":"2015-02-09T16:49:15","slug":"italian-transitive-and-intransitive-verbs-a-practical-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/italian-transitive-and-intransitive-verbs-a-practical-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian Transitive and Intransitive Verbs – A Practical Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Funnily enough, a few days ago I received two different comments on a post that I wrote a long time ago on the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs. I went back and had a look at the article and decided that it\u2019s definitely time to revise this topic. The original article is worth checking out as it gives an in-depth technical explanation of the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs, how to recognize them, and the impact this has on the construction of the past tense, so I would suggest that you might want to revise it first:  <\/em><\/font><\/strong>Verbi Transitivi e Intransitivi<\/font><\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Today we\u2019re going to look at some practical examples of these two types of verb, and their construction in the past tense.<\/p>\n

Verbi Transitivi<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

N.B.<\/strong> in the past tense all transitive verbs are built with the auxiliary verb avere<\/strong> (to have):<\/p>\n

comprare<\/strong> = to buy: di solito compro il pane senza sale<\/strong> = I usually buy unsalted bread. Past: ieri ho comprato<\/u> il pane senza sale<\/strong> = yesterday I bought unsalted bread<\/p>\n

incontrare<\/strong> = to meet: ogni sabato incontro Luisa al mercato<\/strong> = every Saturday I meet Luisa at the market. Past: sabato scorso ho incontrato<\/u> Luisa al mercato<\/strong> = last Saturday I met Luisa at the market<\/p>\n

aspettare<\/strong> = to wait: Maria sta aspettando l\u2019autobus<\/strong> = Maria is waiting for the bus. Past: Maria ha aspettato<\/u> l\u2019autobus per 40 minuti<\/strong> = Maria waited 40 minutes for the bus<\/p>\n

\"motivator956345d29c4181e700a7c1db2c69d87dfe3f.jpg_480_480_0_64000_0_1_0\"<\/a><\/p>\n

lavare<\/strong> = to wash: oggi laviamo la macchina!<\/strong> = today we are going to wash the car! Past: stamattina abbiamo lavato<\/u> la macchina<\/strong> = this morning we washed the car<\/p>\n

mettere<\/strong> = to put: metti il vaso sul davanzale<\/strong> = put the vase on the windowsill. Past: hai messo<\/u> il vaso sul davanzale?<\/strong> = did you put the vase on the windowsill?<\/p>\n

Verbi Intransitivi<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the past tense, some intransitive verbs use the auxiliary verb essere<\/strong> (to be), some use avere<\/strong> (to have), and some can use either. There isn\u2019t a fixed rule, so you\u2019ll need to learn them or to consult your dictionary.<\/p>\n

rimanere<\/strong> = to stay\/remain: Maria rimane a casa a studiare<\/strong> = Maria is staying home to study. Past: Maria \u00e8 rimasta<\/u> a casa a studiare<\/strong> = Maria stayed home studying<\/p>\n

andare<\/strong> = to go: vado a Pisa in treno<\/strong> = I go to Pisa by train. Past: Sono andata\/o<\/u> a Pisa in treno<\/strong> = I went to Pisa by train<\/p>\n

viaggiare<\/strong> = to travel: viaggiamo spesso in treno<\/strong> = we often travel by train. Past: abbiamo viaggiato<\/u> in treno molte volte<\/strong> = we\u2019ve travelled by train many times<\/p>\n

vivere<\/strong> = to live: Beppe e Laura vivono a Milano<\/strong> = Beppe and Laura live in Milan. Past: Beppe e Laura hanno vissuto<\/u> a Milano<\/strong> or<\/em> Beppe e Laura sono vissuti<\/u> a Milano<\/strong> = Beppe and Laura lived in Milan<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"piove\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Piove. Photo (CC) by <\/font><\/em><\/strong>Julio C\u00e9sar Mesa<\/font><\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

piovere<\/strong> = to rain: piove<\/strong> = it\u2019s raining. Past: ieri ha piovuto<\/u><\/strong> or<\/em> ieri \u00e8 piovuto<\/u><\/strong> = yesterday it rained<\/p>\n

Verbi Riflessivi<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

N.B.<\/strong> in the past tense all reflexive verbs are built with the auxiliary verb essere <\/strong>(to be):<\/p>\n

lavarsi<\/strong> = to wash oneself: ci laviamo le mani prima di mangiare<\/strong> = we wash our hands before eating. Past: ci siamo lavate\/i<\/u> le mani prima di mangiare<\/strong> = we washed our hands before eating<\/p>\n

mettersi<\/strong> = to put on\/wear: perch\u00e9 non ti metti quella camicia che ti sta tanto bene?<\/strong> = why don\u2019t you wear that blouse that really suits you? Past: perch\u00e9 non ti sei messa<\/u> quella camicia che ti sta tanto bene?<\/strong> = why didn\u2019t you wear that blouse that really suits you?<\/p>\n

incontrarsi<\/strong> = to meet up with: ogni sabato mi incontro con Luisa al mercato<\/strong> = every Saturday I meet up with Luisa at the market. Past: sabato scorso mi sono incontrata\/o<\/u> con Luisa al mercato<\/strong> = last Saturday I met up with Luisa at the market<\/p>\n

svegliarsi<\/strong> = to wake up: Lucia si sveglia tutte le mattine alle sei<\/strong> = every morning Lucia wakes up at six o\u2019clock. Past: stamattina Lucia si \u00e8 svegliata<\/u> alle sei<\/strong> = this morning Lucia woke up at six o\u2019clock<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Funnily enough, a few days ago I received two different comments on a post that I wrote a long time ago on the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs. I went back and had a look at the article and decided that it\u2019s definitely time to revise this topic. The original article is worth checking…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":8604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[754,896,897],"class_list":["post-8581","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","tag-italian-transitive-and-intransitive-verbs","tag-verbi-intransitivi","tag-verbi-transitivi"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8581"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8606,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8581\/revisions\/8606"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}