Transitive vs. Intransitive

This must probably sound very stupid, but since I'm not a native English speaker I have been wondering for ages what on earth transitive and intransitive verbs are. I come across them very often in dictionaries and stuff, but I have absolutely no idea what the difference between them is. Could anyone explain this to me?

Haha, no worries... Lived in America all my life, and never even heard of transitive/intransitive until I started studying Japanese.

The difference is that intransitive verbs can't be "done to something", i.e. they can't take a direct object.

For example you can say "I kicked the rock." (transitive) but not "I died the rock." (intransitive)

Some transitive verbs also have intransitive versions too: 開ける (transitive: "to open") vs. 開く (intransitive: "to be opened"). 閉める (transitive: "to close") vs. 閉まる (transitive: "to be closed")

The action "transits" (moves) from the one doing something to something else (the object).

To use Rajs' example: I (one who does something) kicked (the action) the rock (the recipient of the action). SUBJECT-> ACTION -> OBJECT..........transitive

But: My dog (one who does something) died (action doesn't apply to some other object). SUBJECT <-> ACTION............intransitive

In Japanese, a great number of verbs have both transitive and intransitive forms and it is best to remember them in pairs. I don't know about Dutch, but in English we use the structure of the sentence to differentiate them. In Japanese, the word pairs are often very similar sounding, but with a small difference between them. So besides just getting the sentence structure correct, you also have to be careful to choose the correct one of the pair to fit the situation. It isn't hard when you get used to it.

Bah... never mind.
I'm an idiot.

mikecash said:

In Japanese, a great number of verbs have both transitive and intransitive forms and it is best to remember them in pairs. I don't know about Dutch, but in English we use the structure of the sentence to differentiate them. In Japanese, the word pairs are often very similar sounding, but with a small difference between them. So besides just getting the sentence structure correct, you also have to be careful to choose the correct one of the pair to fit the situation. It isn't hard when you get used to it.

Click to expand...

So far I still can't really grasp the usage of the various pairs of transitive and intransitive verb forms. Although I do learn them in pairs, but to actually use them correctly in writing and speaking, well, requires the application of some mental jig saw arranging exercise before my sentences start to make sense to me.

The definition for 閉まる (which is actually found in many dictionaries) "be closed" is misleading. When I hear it, I automatically think passive tense, which it's not. It literally means "to close" but it's when something closes by itself.

ドアをしめる ([someone] closes the door)(transitive)
ドアがしまる (the door closes [by itself])(intransitive)

I did a quick J-google thinking I could find a better explanation. I found a 自動詞・他動詞 which did a good job of explaining it pretty well.

Transitive = has a direct object
Intransitive = has no direct object

If we look at the two example sentences I wrote above, or Mikecash's example, you can see that the transitive sentences have a direct object. The intransitive does not. What's far more important than being able to say "this is a transitive/intransitive verb" is having your brain know what works and doesn't work. In other words, know what's trans/intrans but not have to think about it. A lot of folks here are into learning the mechanics behind the language... something I ignored (and don't regret).

Just remember something like ドアをしまる is incorrect. My suggestion is to start out making example sentences in flash cards (PM me if you want some help, I can write some out for you) and memorizing them. As Mike says, 'it's not hard once you get used to it'. It's like genders in other languages -- you eventually just 'know' what's right and wrong.