By: Teacher Herold

Verbs are words that express an action, event, occurrence, or state of being.

Examples:

  • buy,clean,kick,make,read   
  • clean,think,throw,smell know
  • should ,swim,give,do, take

Action verbs are verbs that express specific actions and are used any time you want to show action or discuss someone doing something. There are two types of action verbs. These are transitive verbs and intransitive verbs.

Transitive verbs are action verbs that always express doable activities. These verbs always have direct objects.

What is a direct object?

A direct object is someone or something that receives the action of the verb.

A direct object is usually a noun or a pronoun that answers the questions what or whom.

Examples:

I bought a new phone.

What did you buy?

A new phone

They played football in the park.

What did they play? Football.

We will bake a cake at home tomorrow.

What will we bake? A cake.

He likes art.

What does he like? Art

You should do your homework.

What should I do? homework

Intransitive verbs are action verbs that always express doable activities. No direct object

The child smiled.

The fruit fell from the tree.

His grandfather died last year.

She walks home every evening   

Listen and identify the action verbs in the lyrics.

When I was your man

Bruno Mars

Same bed but it feels just a little bit bigger now
Our song on the radio but it don’t sound the same
When our friends talk about you, all it does is just tear me down
‘Cause my heart breaks a little when I hear your name

It all just sounds like ooh, ooh, ooh, hoo
Mm, too young, too dumb to realize
That I should have bought you flowers
And held your hand
Should have gave you all my hours
When I had the chance
Take you to every party ’cause all you wanted to do was dance

Now my baby’s dancing
But she’s dancing with another man

My pride, my ego, my needs, and my selfish ways
Caused a good strong woman like you to walk out my life
Now I never, never get to clean up the mess I made, oh
And that haunts me every time I close my eyes

It all just sounds like ooh, ooh, ooh, hoo
Mm, too young, too dumb to realize
That I should have bought you flowers
And held your hand
Should have gave you all my hours
When I had the chance
Take you to every party ’cause all you wanted to do was dance

Now my baby’s dancing
But she’s dancing with another man

Although it hurts
I’ll be the first to say that I was wrong
Oh, I know I’m probably much too late
To try and apologize for my mistakes
But I just want you to know

I hope he buys you flowers
I hope he holds your hand
Give you all his hours
When he has the chance
Take you to every party
‘Cause I remember how much you loved to dance
Do all the things I should have done
When I was your man
Do all the things I should have done
When I was your man

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Andrew Wyatt / Ari Levine / Peter Gene Hernandez / Philip Martin II Lawrence

When I Was Your Man lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Downtown Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

The underlined words are action verbs.

  1. Same bed but it feels just a little bit bigger now.

Is the verb feel transitive or intransitive?

Feel can be transitive and transitive depending on its sentence use. We need to look carefully at the direct object. Is there something or someone receiving the action?
The verb feel is intransitive in the sentence “Same bed, but it feels just a little bit bigger now” because it is a state of being.


2. Our song on the radio but it don’t sound the same

I agree with you when you say that don’t in the sentence is wrong. It must be doesn’t since the subject (it) is singular. There must be “is” between song and on.

Other Sentences
When our friends talk about you, all it does is just tear me down
‘Cause my heart breaks a little when I hear your name

Home » Transitive and Intransitive Verbs| Grammar 101