alytical practical grammar - Toronto Public Library

60 ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
THE VERB.
314. ;\ VERB is a word uSf'd to express the act, being,
or state of its subjoct (315); as, "John runs;" "The
boy sleeps;" "Weare )'" "He is loved." Hence-
A word th,lt expre~ses the act, bein~, or stale of a person or thing. ie a
verb. Thu', we say, Tuns is n verb, because it expresses the act of John,
&c.-See Appendix VI. p, 2.50.
315. The slllject of a verb is tbat person or thing. whose act. being, or
state, tbe verb cxpl'es~es. Tbuo, in tbe precedillg example, "rUllS" expresses
the nct of •. John "-" ,lccIIO," the "tate of" boy,"-" are," the
being oc existence of ., u'p," and" is h,\"e"," the !'tate of "he," as the ohject
aded upon (:169). Iu like mannel'. in tbe sf'lIkIICes, "Let him come;"
.. I saw a man cutting wood;" "let" expl'es-es thn act of thou undel"tood,
denoting the person addreosed-" come," the act of ,. him," and" cutting,"
the act of ,. man."
316. Verbs are of two kind", Transitive and Intransitive.
"
317. A TRANSITIVE verb expresse" an act done by one
person or thing to another; as, "J ame" strikes the
table;" "The table is struck by James" (367).
318. An INTRANSITIVE yerb expre:-;scs the being or
state of its subject, or an act not done to another; as,
"I am;" "He sleeps;" "You run."
319. In tbis division, Trnnsiti'l'e (passing over) verbs include all those
wbich express nn act thnt passes m'er from the nctor to nn object; or the
meaning of which has such a reference to an object, as to render the expression
of it nece.sary to complete the sense; n .... He LOVl:S us;" "I
HEAR you;" .. James I:ESEMBLES his brother j" "He HAS a book."
Intrnn,itive verbs iOl!lude all those which are not transitive, whether
they express actioo or not; n~, .. I am;" "You walf..:;" "They run."
320. These two clas",'s of verbs may be thus distinguished:-
1. Transitive verbs in tbe ncti,'c v(lice, reqnire nn object after them to
complete the sense; ns, "James strikes tbe ta.ble ;"-Intransilive verbs do
not reqllire nn object after them, but the sen,e is complete without it; 8S,
"He sits;" " YUII "ide;" " The wied blows;" "The wheel turns."
2. As the object of a transitive active verb is in the ohjective case, any
verb which makes sense with me, thee, him, her, it, them, after it, is transsiti"e.
A Hrb that does not make senRe "ilh one of these words /lfter
it, is intran,itive; thus, strikes is transiti'l'e, because we can say, .. James
• 'fhe dh'isioll of verbs into transitive and intransitive has bas been so generally
!ldopted and approved by the best grammarians, thnt any discussion of the subject
IS now ullnecessary.