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].