Transitive and Intransitive Verbs – الفِعْلُ المُتَعَدِّي والْفِعْلُ اللازِمُ
Introduction - مُقَدِّمَةٌ
Cases of transitive verbs – أَنْوَاعُ الْفِعْلِ الْمُتَعَدِّي
Revision - مُرَاجَعَةٌ
- We studied the types of sentences in Arabic, namely the nominal sentence that begins (originally) with a noun and the verbal sentence that starts (originally) with a verb.
- The verbal sentence is made up of two main components: the verb + the doer. We will study this in detail later in this lesson, but now let’s see the following two examples.
- In case the sentence includes only these main components and does not need a direct object, as is the case in the two examples below, then the verb is called an intransitive verb "فِعْلٌ لازِمٌ".
Doer
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Verb
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Translation
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Sentence
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Muhammad showed up
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Shakir failed to show up
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· The sentence may contain a verb, a doer and a noun which suffers the action of the verb. In this case, the verb is called a transitive verb "فِعلٌ مُتَعَدٍّ", as in the following two examples:
Direct object
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Doer
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Verb
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Translation
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Sentence
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The student wrote the lesson
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The boy drank the milk
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- In Arabic, there are three cases of transitive verbs as follows:
- Transitive verbs with one direct object.
- Transitive verbs with two direct objects.
- Transitive verbs with three direct objects.
Object 3
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Object 2
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Object 1
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Doer
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Verb
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Translation
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Sentence
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Case
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Ibrahim studied Arabic
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1
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Khalid deemed the food delicious
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2
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Muhammad told Khalid [that] the truth [is] painful
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3
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Nominal and verbal sentences
- The Arabic verbal sentence has two main components that must be there for it to be verbal. These components are:
- The verb
- The doer
- The order is vital in this regard. This means that a verbal sentence must start –originally- with a verb.
- Study the following verbal sentences:
Images
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Translation
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Sentence
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Ahmad met his lecturer at the university
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 |
Sa’id slept early
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The car hit Tariq’s leg
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 |
Khalid learnt Arabic quickly
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- On the other hand, if a sentence begins with a noun, then it becomes a nominal sentence. The examples above of verbal sentences can be transformed into nominal ones if we placed the doer at the beginning of the sentence as follows:
Verbal Sentence
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Nominal Sentence
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- Consequently, the verbal sentence is the one that starts –originally- with a verb; and the nominal sentences is the one that starts –originally- with a noun.
Transitive and intransitive verbs
- Arabic verbs are divided into two types:
- The first type is the transitive verb “الفِعْلُ الْمُتَعَدِّي”. This kind of verbs require a direct object to complement the meaning of the sentence as the meaning of the sentence cannot be complete without this object. Consider the verbs in the following passage:
English
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Arabic
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The teacher read many English books. He translated some of them into English. He taught us one of them. And we understood this book well
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It is noteworthy that the verbs (قَرَأ، تَرْجَمَ، دَرَّسَ، فَهِمَ) require a direct object. This type of Arabic verbs is called transitive verbs; that is the verb that needs a direct object for the meaning of the sentence to be complete. Without this direct object, the meaning will remain uncompleted.
- On the other hand, some verbs do not need a direct object, and the meaning can be complete without this object. This type of verbs is called intransitive verbs “الْفِعْلُ اللازِمُ”. Consider the verbs in the following passage:
English
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Arabic
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Tamir sat on the bed. Then he slept for half an hour. Later he woke up at 6 o’clock. Then he went to the university
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From the examples above, we note that there is no direct object, and that the meaning of the sentence is complete without the object. These verbs [جَلَسَ، نَامَ، اِسْتَيْقَظَ، ذَهَبَ] are called intransitive verbsأَفْعَالٌ لازِمَةٌ.
- We have already learnt that the intransitive verb does not have a direct object. Here we will discuss in detail the cases of the transitive verbs, as follows:
- Transitive verbs with one direct object.
- Transitive verbs with two direct objects.
- Transitive verbs with three direct objects.
The object
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Translation
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Example
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Case
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Muhammad put the clothes on
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With one direct object.
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Ibrahim dressed Muhammad [with] the garment
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With two direct objects.
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The teacher told the student [that] the exam is difficult
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With three direct objects.
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- The examples above show that there are three cases of the transitive verb:
A. Transitive verb with one direct object:
- For example the verb كَتَبَ must be accompanied by a doer who writes, a student for instance, and something that is writing, the homework for example, then the sentence will be: كَتَبَ الطَّالِبُ الدَّرْسَ. The same also applies to the example: لَبِسَ مُحَمَّدٌ الثُّوْبَ. The verb لَبِسَ must have a doer who puts on the clothes, i.e. Muhammad, and something that is dressed, i.e. the clothes. This type of verb is very common in Arabic. View the following of examples on the transitive verb with one direct object:
Images
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Translation
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Sentence
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The teacher smelled sweet odour in the class
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The student understood the lesson
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The guests ate the food
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The friends drank the juice
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The student did his homework
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B. Transitive verbs with two objects:
- The second case is that the transitive verb has two direct objects, as in the following example:
Ibrahim gave Muhammad a book.
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- In this example, the action of the verb “أَعْطَى” affects two objects, namely “Muhammad” and “a book” in this example.
- Study the following similar examples of transitive verbs with two objects:
Images
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Translation
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Sentence
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The rich man gave alms to the poor man
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The director awarded a prize [to] the teacher
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Khalid dressed the poor man [with] a garment
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The student thought the exam [is] easy
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People realized [that] the truth [is] painful
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C. Transitive verbs with three objects:
- The third case, which is rare in Arabic, is when a transitive verb has three objects. This verb is usually formed by prefixing the verbs that has two objects with a hamza. This rule can be summed up as follows:
Hamza+a verb with two objects = verb with three objects
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- Examples:
· View the following examples:
Images
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Translation
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Sentence
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I told the people success [is] easy
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The radio told the people the celebration [had been] postponed
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I told the illiterate person [that] reading [is] useful
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Translation
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Vocabulary
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Translation
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Vocabulary
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Allowed
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Appeared
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Bed
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Did not show up
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Translated
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deemed
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Ran
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Informed/ told
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Stay awake at night
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Delicious
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Stood up
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Painful
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Punished
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Hit
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Prize
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Learnt
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Gave
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Knew
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Told
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Gave/awarded/ granted
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Dressed
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Put on
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Tasted
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Touched
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Heard
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Saw
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Smelled
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