IELTS Grammar Exercise 5

IELTS Grammar Exercise 5 is a review of transitive and intransitive verbs in the English language:

Transitive verbs take an object. Intransitive verbs do not take an object.

Transitive verb: He kicked the ball really hard.

He = grammatical subject; kicked = transitive verb (past simple); the ball = object

Intransitive verb: I work from 9:00AM to 5:00 PM every day.

I = grammatical subject; work = intransive verb (simple present)

In addition, sometimes a verb can be transitive in one sentence and intransitive in another sentence.

Transitive verb: She sang two songs for the audience.

She = grammatical subject; sang = transitive verb (past simple); two songs = object

Intransitive verb: She sings beautifully.

She = grammatical subject; sings = intransive verb (simple present)

Look at the grammar examples above. Then decide whether each the verb in sentence below is transitive or intransitive.

(1) Our class went on a trip to London.

(2) He shut the door behind himself on his way out.

(3) He sent me a letter on Tuesday last week.

(4) She complains constantly about her small flat.

(5) The coach blew the whistle to call a time out.

(6) She picked the flowers by hand.

(7) They took a trip to the Lake District.

(8) He eats too much.

(9) He ate the cake really quickly.

(10) I watched TV for most of the evening.

ANSWERS:

(1) intransitive

(2) transitive

(3) transitive

(4) intransitive

(5) transitive

(6) transitive

(7) transitive

(8) intransitive

(9) transitive

(10) transitive