German Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

Transitive verbs are verbs, that can have or need an accusative object as addition. Transitive verbs are also used to form the passive voice, by turning the object to the subject of the sentence in passive voice. All the transitive verbs in German use the auxiliary verb “haben” to form the compound tenses.

• Transitive verbs can always occur with an accusative object, but it does not necessarily occur with it. Examples are: “lesen, sehen, kochen, schreiben, backen.”
  – „Philip schreibt.“ (→ intransitive use, as the accusative object is missing)
  – „Philip schreibt einen Brief.“ (→ transitive use with accusative object.)
  – „Philip schreibt in seinem Zimmer.“ (→ intransitive use)
• As already mentioned, transitive verbs are used to form the passive form of a verb. In this case, the accusative object of the sentence in the active voice is turned in the subject of the sentence in the passive voice.
  – „Der Angler fängt einen Fisch.“ (→ Sentence in the active voice with “einen Fisch” as accusative object.)
  – „Ein Fisch wird (vom Angler) gefangen.“ (→ sentence in the passive voice with “Ein Fisch” as subject, the prepositional object becomes then optional.)
• Transitive verbs in German always use the auxiliary verb “haben” when conjugated in compound tenses.
  – „Ich habe einen Kuchen gegessen.“ (→ Perfect; Accusative object “einen Kuchen”)
  – „Wir hatten unseren Urlaub bereits gebucht.“ (→ Past perfect; Accusative object “unseren Urlaub”)

Have you ever wondered when looking into a German dictionary why there is (v.t.) or (v.i.) behind the verb? Well, language-easy.org will help you to solve this mystery of German grammar! So, (v.t.) stand for German transitive verb and (v.i.) stands for German intransitive verb. But… what are these types of verbs? Although you might think that this is just a marginal topic in German grammar – be aware! Of course, you have to master these verbs in order to speak and write in a perfect way.

So, in the following, I’d like to clear up what these type of verbs actually are, and we will also have a look at a group of verbs that can be both – German transitive and intransitive verbs.

Well, let’s come to our first topic of this article and talk about the German transitive verbs. Los geht’s!

So, let’s come to the first point of this article and talk about German transitive verbs. Luckily, most of the verbs in German are transitive.

So, transitive verbs are verbs that take an object e.g. a noun, phrase or pronoun. They take the accusative case.

Well, here are some examples that illustrate what is meant by this description.

• “etwas abgeben”
  “Er möchte seinen Hut an der Rezeption abgeben.”
• “etwas anbraten”
  “Philip brät sein Hähnchen an.”
• “etwas erfinden”
  “Ich würde so gerne etwas erfinden!”
• “möchten”
  “Philip möchte einfach nur Computer spielen!”

Of course, German transitive verbs can also be used in the perfect and past perfect form. So, in this case you should use the auxiliary verb “haben” (to have) for the active voice. Finally, you should be aware that there are some German transitive verbs that require a double accusative. Well, you simply need this in order to clear up their exact meaning. So, these verbs are:  “abfragen” – (to interrogate), “abhören” – (to listen to), “kosten” – (to cost money/something), “lehren” – (to teach), and “nennen” – (to name). Well, here are some examples:

• “Lateinische Vokabeln müssen gelernt werden.”
• “Jeder von uns möchte gmocht werden!”
• “Danach wir ein Bier getrunken.”
• “Die Strafe muss bis Ende des Monats bezahlt werden.”

So, I think these are the most important facts about this type of German verb. Now, let’s come to the next point of this article and talk about German intransitive verbs.

Well, German intransitive verbs do not appear that frequently in the German language. Nevertheless, you should try to master them anyway – it will definitely help you to understand grammatical construction and, of course, improve your speaking skills a lot.

So, the great difference between intransitive and transitive verbs is that this type will always take the genitive or dative case, whereas transitive verbs only take the accusative.

German intransitive verbs are verbs used without an accusative object.

Apart from that, you should be aware that this type of German verbs can not be used in the passive voice. Well, the only exception to this rule is when you’re using the pronoun “es” in special circumstances. And, by the way, reflexive verbs are also intransitive.

• “Philip ist an der Nordsee.”
• “Unsere Zivilsation geht bald  unter.”
• “Ein Schiff fährt auf dem Meer entlang.”