Allen & Greenough · Part Second — Syntax › The Sentence

§273. Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

Verbs are either Transitive or Intransitive.

A Transitive Verb has or requires a direct object to complete its sense (see § 274): as,—frātrem cecīdit, he slew his brother.
An Intransitive Verb admits of no direct object to complete its sense:—
cadō, I fall (or am falling). sōl lūcet, the sun shines (or is shining).
Note 1.—Among transitive verbs Factitive Verbs are sometimes distinguished as a separate class. These state an act which produces the thing expressed by the word which completes their sense. Thus mēnsam fēcit, he made a table (which was not in existence before), is distinguished from mēnsam percussit, he struck a table (which already existed).
Note 2.—A transitive verb may often be used absolutely, i.e. without any object expressed: as,—arat, he is ploughing, where the verb does not cease to be transitive because the object is left indefinite, as we see by adding,—quid, what? agrum suum, his land.
Note 3.—Transitive and Intransitive Verbs are often called Active and Neuter Verbs respectively.

J. H. Allen and J. B. Greenough, New Latin Grammar (Boston: Ginn, 1903). Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.