What does transitive / intransitive mean?
(Mark Shoulson, Thurs, 29 August 1996) Verbs come in two flavors: transitive and intransitive. All verbs take subjects. The subject of the verb is the thing which is doing whatever the verb is talking about. In an intransitive verb, that’s really the only thing that’s required: someone to do it. So Qong is intransitive in Klingon (OK, Krankor, if it’s transitive then we don’t know what its object is): jIQong /I sleep, Qong HoD /the captain sleeps, etc. That’s it. No other entity is involved in the sleeping business. Intransitive verbs will use the no-object prefixes, because they have no object. Transitive verbs also have an “object,” which is somehow the recipient of the action. When you eat something, you’re involved (as the eater), and there’s also involvment of something else: the stuff you eat, the eatee. You eat the food. That’s what transitive verbs are: verbs which require (if only implied) an object. vISop /I eat it , qagh Sop HoD /the captain eats the qagh . Transitive verbs
