CHAPTER XV.
ON VERBS IN GENERAL.
[§ 472]. For the purposes of syntax it is necessary to divide verbs into the five following divisions: transitive, intransitive, auxiliary, substantive, and impersonal.
Transitive verbs.—In transitive verbs the action is never a simple action. It always affects some object or other,—I move my limbs; I strike my enemy. The presence of a transitive verb implies also the presence of a noun; which noun is the name of the object affected. A transitive verb, unaccompanied by a noun, either expressed or understood, is a contradiction in terms. The absence of the nouns, in and of itself, makes it intransitive. I move means, simply, I am in a state of moving. I strike means, simply, I am in the act of striking. Verbs like move and strike are naturally transitive.
Intransitive verbs.—An act may take place, and yet no object be affected by it. To hunger, to thirst, to sleep, to wake, are verbs that indicate states of being, rather than actions affecting objects. Verbs like hunger and sleep are naturally intransitive.
Many verbs, naturally transitive, may be used as intransitive,—e.g., I move, I strike, &c.
Many verbs, naturally intransitive, may be used as transitives,—e.g., I walked the horse = I made the horse walk.
This variation in the use of one and the same verb
is of much importance in the question of the government of verbs.
A. Transitive verbs are naturally followed by some noun or other; and that noun is always the name of something affected by them as an object.
B. Intransitive verbs are not naturally followed by any noun at all; and when they are so followed, the noun is never the name of anything affected by them as an object.
Nevertheless, intransitive verbs may be followed by nouns denoting the manner, degree, or instrumentality of their action,—I walk with my feet = incedo pedibus.
[§ 473]. The auxiliary verbs will be noticed fully in Chapter [XXIII].
[§ 474]. The verb substantive has this peculiarity, viz., that for all purposes of syntax it is no verb at all. I speak may, logically, be reduced to I am speaking; in which case it is only the part of a verb. Etymologically, indeed, the verb substantive is a verb; inasmuch as it is inflected as such: but for the purposes of construction, it is a copula only, i.e., it merely denotes the agreement or disagreement between the subject and the predicate.
For the impersonal verbs see Chapter [XXI].