intransitif

Intransitif, in grammar, refers to a verb that does not take a direct object. An intransitive verb forms a complete predicate with only a subject, though it may be accompanied by other elements such as time, location, or manner. The action or state expressed by the verb centers on the subject rather than on an object.

Many languages distinguish transitivity as a property of the verb’s valency. Intransitives are monovalent, meaning they involve one core participant (the subject). By contrast, transitive verbs are bivalent, requiring a direct object, and ditransitive verbs can take a second object. Some verbs can be used both transitively and intransitively, depending on meaning, language, or syntactic frame; such verbs are described as ambitransitive.

Linguistic typology also recognizes distinctions within intransitives, such as unaccusative and unergative verbs. Unaccusative verbs involve themes that are not agents (for example, becoming or happening), while unergative verbs describe voluntary, agentive actions. In some languages, intransitive clauses interact with voice systems in ways that differ from true transitives, including specialized constructions that resemble passives or antipassives.

Examples of intransitive usage include verbs of movement or change of state, such as sleep, arrive, go, or rise. In French, intransitive verbs are often described with examples like dormir (to sleep), arriver (to arrive), partir (to leave), and se lever (to rise), as in Le chat dort or Le soleil se lève. By contrast, many verbs can be transitive when accompanied by a direct object, as in manger une pomme (to eat an apple) or lire un livre (to read a book).

See also: transitivity, valency, ambitransitive, unaccusative, unergative.