Spanish intransitive Verb
Verbos intransitivos (intransitive verbs) are the ones that have complete meaning on their own and that do not require a direct object.
Mi madre duerme.
My mother sleeps.
María sonríe.
María smiles.
Some intransitive verbs: hablar (to talk, to speak), nadar (to swim), cantar (to sing), bailar (to dance), andar (to walk), sonreír (to smile), ir (to go), vivir (to live), morir (to die).My mother sleeps.
María sonríe.
María smiles.
Attention, sometimes there are exceptions:
- Verbos intransitivos can work as transitivos if they appear in the sentence with a direct object.
Durmió al niño en sus brazos.
He got the child to sleep by holding him in his arms.
- Verbos transitivos can work as instransitivos if there is no direct odject in the sentence.
El niño lee en clase.
The child reads in class.
- Verbos intransitivos can work as transitivos if they appear in the sentence with a direct object.
Durmió al niño en sus brazos.
He got the child to sleep by holding him in his arms.
- Verbos transitivos can work as instransitivos if there is no direct odject in the sentence.
El niño lee en clase.
The child reads in class.
See also: verbo transitivo