Ch 15 · Lesson 16Esperanto · Chapter 15 · Lesson 16 · Grammar primer
Transitivity: which verbs take an object
is what the house does, i what the boy does to the paper. Every root takes an object or never does, English is no guide, and tr or ntr in the dictionary tells you which.
The short version
A root is transitive or intransitive for life
; as .
Why?Hide
English lets many verbs work both ways (the house burns, the boy burns the paper); an Esperanto root works one way only. is what the house does, i what the boy does to the paper; is what the car does, what the driver does. Which side a root sits on is vocabulary rather than rule: is transitive with derived, while is intransitive with derived. is the one to get right, since i means you killed him.
tr or ntr: the dictionary tells you the side
is. .
Why?Hide
Every verb entry carries a mark: tr (transitiva) if it takes an object, ntr (netransitiva) if it does not. The mark also hands you the partner verb. A tr root like gets its no-object verb with -iĝ-: is. An ntr root like gets its object-taking verb with -ig-: . With no mark, look for a noun with -n after the verb in the example.
An either takes an object or it never does, and the sentence cannot change that. English burn does both jobs; Esperanto has one verb for each, and the suffixes -- and -- build the partner.
| Kind | Esperanto | English |
|---|---|---|
| takes an object | . | I close the door. |
| never takes one | . | The car stops. |
-- adds one | . | I stop the car. |
-- takes it away | . | The door closes. |
person after | . | I like the book. |
| one object only | . | He gave me a book. |
One root, one class
A transitive verb takes an object with the accusative -n; an intransitive verb takes none, in any tense. Many English verbs do both jobs; an Esperanto root does one:
.- The house is burning..- The boy is burning the paper.
A transitive verb may leave its object unsaid, and it is still transitive:
.- I am eating..- I am eating bread.
That never works the other way. has no object to leave out, so I stop the car needs .
The pairs English uses one verb for
Some plain roots take no object, and -- builds the verb that does:
| English | It happens | You do it to it |
|---|---|---|
| burn | | |
| stop | | |
| boil | | |
| drown | | |
| grow | | |
| last, go on | | |
| die, kill | | |
Other plain roots take an object, and -- builds the verb that does not:
| English | It happens | You do it to it |
|---|---|---|
| begin | | |
| end | | |
| break | | |
| move | | |
| turn | | |
| change | | |
| open | | |
| close | | |
| wake | | |
No ending predicts the side. Learn each root once, and the class holds in every tense and form:
.- I begin the work..- The work begins.
A few object-taking roots, , and among them, do turn up without an object in real texts ( , the work began). That use is old and widespread but discouraged; is the standard form, and the one to write.
Reading tr and ntr
Dictionaries mark every verb with its class:
| Mark | Means | The partner verb |
|---|---|---|
tr | transitiva: takes an object | |
ntr | netransitiva: takes none | |
Bilingual dictionaries may use their own marks, such as vt and . With no mark at all, read the entry's example: an object with -n (the noun that answers what?) after the verb means it takes one.
.- She closed the window. (takes an object)
Going further: The verbs that put the person after al and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
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