transitiveintransitive

Transitive-intransitive, commonly referred to as ambitransitive, is a term in linguistics for verbs that can be used both transitively and intransitively. In grammar, transitive verbs require a direct object and have a valency of two (subject and object), while intransitive verbs do not require an object and have a valency of one. Ambitransitive verbs can alternate between these constructions depending on meaning, syntax, or language.

There are two main senses of ambitransitivity. Lexical ambitransitives describe verbs that have both transitive and intransitive senses with the same lexical item (eat, open, grow, melt). Syntactic ambitransitives concern clauses where the same verb form can appear with or without a direct object without changing the verb itself. Many English verbs are ambitransitive: I eat breakfast (transitive) versus I eat at noon (intransitive); The door opened (intransitive) versus She opened the door (transitive). Some cases involve a causative vs. inchoative interpretation, where the transitive use expresses causing a change and the intransitive use expresses the change happening without an explicit patient.

Examples across English include eat, open, read, break, and grow. Note that not all verbs are ambitransitive; others are inherently transitive or inherently intransitive. The distinction can reflect shifts in meaning, voice, or argument structure, and it interacts with cross-linguistic morphology and syntax. Understanding ambitransitivity helps explain how verbs manage different valency patterns and how languages encode causation and change of state.