monotransitive

In linguistics, monotransitive refers to a verb or clause that takes exactly one object argument. The concept lies within the study of transitivity and valency, which categorize verbs by how many participants (arguments) they require. Monotransitive contrasts with intransitive (no object) and ditransitive (two object arguments).

A typical English example of a monotransitive sentence is "She ate an apple." Here the verb 'ate' takes a single direct object, 'an apple.' By comparison, "She gave her friend a book" is ditransitive because 'gave' requires both a direct object ('a book') and an indirect object ('her friend').

In linguistic analyses, monotransitivity is used to describe a verb’s argument structure and to classify languages or grammars by their valency patterns. Some frameworks distinguish verbs as monotransitive, ditransitive, or more highly transitive based on the number and type of arguments they license.

The term also appears in cross-linguistic studies of valency-changing processes, such as causatives or applicatives, which can alter a verb’s transitivity. In language teaching and description, monotransitive constructions are often introduced as a basic model for subject–verb–object patterns.

See also transitivity, intransitivity, ditransitivity, and valency.