Spanish transitive verbs

By Marta Díaz on Thursday, April 18, 2024

When you look up the meaning of a Spanish verb in dictionaries, these basic Spanish words appear next to the letters tr. or intr., but do you know what they mean? In this Enforex article we give you the answer: tr. means transitive and intr. are intransitive.

Spanish verbs can be transitive, intransitive, or copulative and in this article, you will learn the differences between them. One of the most complicated factors when learning Spanish is grammar and verbs conjugation. Stay and enjoy learning with Enforex about transitive and intransitive verbs in Spanish.

What are Spanish transitive verbs?

Spanish transitive verbs are those that need a direct object to have a complete meaning in the sentence. Therefore, this complement or direct object is the receiver of the action of the verb. For example: comprar (to buy), leer (to read) or comer (to eat).

In addition, it is important to emphasize that Spanish transitive verbs are always followed by a direct object. Verbs that are followed by a circumstantial complement or an indirect object are not transitive verbs.

What are Spanish intransitive verbs?

On the other hand, Spanish intransitive verbs do not need a direct object to make sense in a sentence. These verbs express an action that does not require a direct object. Some examples are brillar (to shine), corer (to run), bailar (to dance) or sonreír (to smile).

What about Spanish copulative verbs?

Spanish copulative verbs are those that do not express an action but serve to join the subject with the predicate. These verbs do not require a complement because the actions take place in themselves. In addition, these verbs are accompanied by an attribute that can be an adjective, noun, or pronoun. There are only three verbs: ser, estar and parecer.

Difference between Spanish transitive and intransitive verbs

Spanish transitive and intransitive verbs do not form a complete and definite list like copulative verbs. The reason? These verbs vary depending on the context, so a verb that is intransitive in principle can change to transitive because it needs a direct complement.

Some verbs like caminar (to walk) can be transitive or intransitive depending on the meaning of the sentence. For example:

• Mis primos caminan siempre agarrados de la mano (My cousins always walk holding hands). It is an intransitive verb.
• Hemos caminado 10 kilómetros al día estas vacaciones (We have walked 10 kilometers a day this vacation) It is a transitive verb.

Although there are some verbs in Spanish that are easy to recognize as transitive, for example, mirar (to look) or comprar (to buy); and others that will be intransitive, such as sonreír (to smile). Therefore, the key to identifying these verbs is the complement or direct object. This complement can be identified in three ways:

• It can be replaced by lo, la, los or las. For example: Ganamos al equipo contrario (We beat the opposing team). Los ganamos (we beat them).
• By asking ‘qué’ (what) or ‘a quién’ (whom). For example: Compré dos entradas (I bought two tickets). ¿Que compré? (What did I buy?) Dos entradas (two tickets).
• Converting the active voice to passive voice so that the direct object becomes the patient subject. For example: Luis suspendió el examen (Luis failed the exam) / El examen fue suspendido por Luis (The exam was failed by Luis).

Spanish transitive verbs examples

Differentiate these verbs can be a difficult task, so here are some examples of sentences with Spanish transitive verbs:

• Tenemos que dividir la tarta en cuatro partes (We must divide the cake into four parts)
• Cancelaron mi vuelo a Madrid (They canceled my flight to Madrid)
• El granizo ha dañado el tejado de mi casa (The hail has damaged the roof of my house)
• Invitaron a todos sus amigos a la boda (They invited all their friends to the wedding)
• Están mirando al vecino (They are looking at the neighbor)
• Voy a comprar unos zapatos a María (I am going to buy Maria some shoes)
• La lluvia ha mojado la ropa que estaba fuera tendida (The rain has soaked the clothes that were hanging outside)
• Un fuerte golpe rompió la ventana del salón (A loud bang broke the living room window)
• No toques ese cristal, podrías hacerte daño (Don't touch that glass, you could hurt yourself)
• No soporto este calor (I can't stand this heat)

Spanish intransitive verbs examples

And here you will find several examples of sentences with Spanish intransitive verbs:

• Puede bailar durante horas en una fiesta (You can dance for hours at a party)
• Solo estaba bromeando, no te enfades conmigo (I was just kidding, don't get mad at me)
• Mi prima canta muy bien, pero nunca lo hace en público (My cousin sings very well, but she never does it in public)
• Durmieron durante horas tras el largo viaje de vuelta (They slept for hours after the long trip back home)
• Faltan veinte minutos para que acabe el partido (It's twenty minutes to the end of the game)
• El ordenador nuevo funciona a la perfección (The new computer is working perfectly)
• Estoy intentando aprender a patinar sobre ruedas (I'm trying to learn how to roller skate)
• Queremos viajar por Estados Unidos este verano (We want to travel around the United States this summer)
• Tardamos tres horas en llegar hasta la cima (It took us three hours to get to the top)
• Regresaremos a casa antes de las 12 (We will be home before 12 o'clock)