You will come across the terms ‘TRANSITIVE VERBS' (TŪMAHI WHITI) and ‘INTRANSITIVE VERBS’ (TŪMAHI PORO) when you’re learning about adding an object in an active verb sentence using the pattern:
Tense
marker
+
Verb
+
Agent
+
'i' or
'ki'
+
Object
The rule for using ‘i’ or ‘ki’ before the OBJECT of a VERB can be written like this:
In general, use ‘i’ before the OBJECT when the VERB is TRANSITIVE and ‘ki’ before the OBJECT when the verb is INTRANSITIVE
or like this:
‘i’ marks the DIRECT OBJECT of a TRANSITIVE VERB, ‘ki’ marks the INDIRECT OBJECT of an INTRANSITIVE VERB or the INDIRECT OBJECT of a TRANSITIVE VERB
The 'quick' rule:
Use ‘i’ when the OBJECT gets ‘VERBED’
is a much less wordy way of saying:
'i’ marks the DIRECT OBJECT of a TRANSITIVE VERB.
The English sentences below are colour coded like this:
agent
verb
object
Think about these sentences:
Dan
has
hit
the
ball
They
washed
the
dogs:
We can make some general observations about both:
The action named by the VERB is acting on the OBJECT. To put it the other way round, the OBJECT is receiving the ACTION named by the VERB
The ACTION is passed along from the AGENT (the do’er) to the OBJECT
In
Dan
has
hit
the
ball:
The ball has been hit; the hitting has certainly acted on the ball.
The ball has been DIRECTLY affected by the ACTION.
Also, the ACTION started with Dan (the AGENT) and was passed on to the ball; the ball received the ACTION.
In
They
washed
the
dogs:
The dogs (the object) were DIRECTLY affected by the ACTION, and the ACTION passed from ‘they’ to the dogs.
In our examples, the OBJECTS (the ball and the dogs) are DIRECT objects.
They have received the ACTION named by the VERB. (They have been ‘VERBED’).
The ACTION named by the VERB is TRANSFERRED from the AGENT to the DIRECT OBJECT. ‘Transferred’ means ‘carried across’.
This is where we get the word ’TRANSITIVE’ from. A TRANSITIVE verb names an action that is TRANSFERRED from an AGENT (do’er) to a DIRECT OBJECT.
Here are some more examples of transitive verbs with direct objects:
Wiremu
has
filled
the
bucket
Sarah
is
cutting
an
apple
I
pulled
the
chain
He
wrote
a
letter
The
cat
is
chasing
a
dog
The
girl
will
eat
the
sandwich
Some VERBS do not transfer the ACTION they name to an OBJECT. In fact, it makes no sense to say that they directly affect their OBJECT at all.
Think about these examples:
The
baby
is
crying
for
her
mum
Wiremu
has
gone
to
the
shops
The AGENT is ‘doing’ the VERB, but;
the ACTION is not being passed on to the OBJECT; the OBJECT is not being 'VERBED'
In
The
baby
is
crying
for
her
mum:
Mum is not receiving the ACTION; the baby is not ‘crying her mum’.
The baby’s mum is the still called the OBJECT of the ACTION, but she is not the DIRECT OBJECT. She is the focus or perhaps the reason or the target for the crying, but the crying isn’t happening to her. In this case we say that the object is INDIRECT.
In
Wiremu
has
gone
to
the
shops:
Again, the ACTION (‘gone’) has not been done directly to the OBJECT (the shops).
Wiremu has not ‘gone the shops’. He hasn’t given them a really good ‘going’.
The shops are the OBJECT of the ACTION but in the sense that they are Wiremu’s destination, or his goal. The action ‘gone’ doesn’t happen directly to an OBJECT.
‘The shops’ are an INDIRECT OBJECT of the VERB.
VERBS like ‘cry’ and ‘go’ cannot take a DIRECT OBJECT. The ACTION they name cannot be transferred directly; therefore, they are called ‘INTRANSITIVE’.
INTRANSITIVE VERBS can still take an OBJECT, but it is called an INDIRECT OBJECT. INDIRECT OBJECTS are not on the receiving end of the ACTION.
Here are some more examples of INTRANSITIVE VERBS. Firstly, without any OBJECT:
Wiremu
jumped
He
has gone
The
dog
is
swimming
Te
Aroha
has
arrived
and with an INDIRECT OBJECT:
Wiremu
jumped
over
a
fence
He
has gone
to
the
school
The
dog
is
swimming
in
the
river
Te
Aroha
has
arrived
at
her
home