Phrase guide

intransitive verb

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ɪnˌtɹænsətɪv ˈvɜːb/
  • /ɪnˌtɹænzətɪv ˈvɜːb/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An action verb which does not take a direct object.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

Examples

  • In the English language, ‘sleep’ is an intransitive verb.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: VI

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a verb (or verb construction) that does not take an object

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: intransitive verb form, intransitive

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: verb

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

64 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: فِعْل لَازِم (fiʕl lāzim) — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Belarusian: неперахо́дны дзеясло́ў (njepjeraxódny dzjejaslów) — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Bengali: অকর্মক ক্রিয়া (okormok kriẏa) — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Breton: verb gwan — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Bulgarian: непрехо́ден глаго́л (neprehóden glagól) — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Catalan: verb intransitiu — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Chinese Cantonese: 不及物動詞 /不及物动词 — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不及物動詞 /不及物动词 (bùjíwù dòngcí) — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Chinese Mandarin: 自動詞 /自动词 (zìdòngcí) — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Danish: intransitivt verbum — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Dutch: onovergankelijk werkwoord — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Esperanto: netransitiva verbo — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Estonian: sihitu tegusõna — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Finnish: intransitiivinen verbi — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Finnish: intransitiiviverbi — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • French: verbe intransitif — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Galician: verbo intransitivo — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • German: Intransitiv — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • German: Intransitivum — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • German: intransitives Verb — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Greek: αμετάβατο ρήμα (ametávato ríma) — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Hebrew: פועל עומד — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Hindi: अकर्मक क्रिया (akarmak kriyā) — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Hungarian: tárgyatlan ige — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Icelandic: áhrifslaus sögn — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Indonesian: kata kerja intransitif — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Irish: briathar neamhaistreach — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Italian: verbo intransitivo — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Japanese: 自動詞 (jidōshi) — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Khmer: អកម្មកិរិយា (ʼɑɑkmmɔɔkeriyiə) — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Korean: 자동사 (jadongsa) — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Lao: ອະກັມມະກິຣິຍາ (ʼa kam ma ki ri nyā) — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Lao: ອະກໍາມະກິລິຍາ (ʼa kam ma ki li nyā) — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Latin: verbum intransitivum — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Latvian: nepārejošs darbības vārds — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Latvian: intransitīvs verbs — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Lithuanian: negalininkinis veiksmažodis — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Macedonian: непреоден глагол (nepreoden glagol) — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Malayalam: അകർമ്മകക്രിയ (akaṟmmakakriya) — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Māori: kupumahi poro — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Māori: tūmahi poro — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Norman: vèrbe întransitif — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Polish: czasownik nieprzechodni — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Portuguese: verbo intransitivo — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Romanian: intranzitiv — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Romanian: verb intranzitiv — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Russian: неперехо́дный глаго́л (neperexódnyj glagól) — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Serbo-Croatian: непрелазни глагол — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Serbo-Croatian: непријелазни глагол — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Serbo-Croatian: neprelazni glagol — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Serbo-Croatian: neprijelazni glagol — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Spanish: verbo intransitivo — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Swedish: intransitivt verb — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Tagalog: pandiwang katawanin — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Tamil: செயப்படுபொருள்குன்றியவினை (ceyappaṭuporuḷkuṉṟiyaviṉai) — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Thai: อกรรมกริยา (à-gam-grì-yaa) — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Turkish: geçişsiz fiil — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Turkish: geçişsiz eylem — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Ukrainian: неперехідне́ дієсло́во (neperexidné dijeslóvo) — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Vietnamese: nội động từ — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Vietnamese: động từ nội hướng — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Vietnamese: tự động từ — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Volapük: värb neloveädik — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter
  • Welsh: berf gyflawn — action verb not taking a direct object — see also neuter