Intransitive verb

In grammar, an intransitive verb is a verb that takes no object. Examples of intransitive verbs include:

• I ate.
• He thought.
• She runs.

See also transitive and ditransitive.

There are languages that mark verbs for their transitivity, such that the verb in "I ate" and "I ate a fish" would have different affixes. In addition, ergative verbs generally take complementizers, while normal intransitive verbs can take prepositional phrases. Thus:

• He thought that you were ill.
• She runs through the woods.

But not

• He thought through the woods.
• She runs that you were ill.