II. Genre of a verb: transitivity and intransitivity
In addition to the four best-known properties of a verb in Italian grammar:
- mood: infinitive, participle, gerund, indicative, subjunctive, conditional, imperative
- tense: past (with many forms: present perfect, imperfect etc), present, future (with two forms: simple future, future perfect)
- person: first, second, third
- number: singular, plural
there are two other important properties that need to be understood before one can work comfortably with Italian pronominal verbs: genre and form. In this post the genre of the verb will be explained.
The grammatical genre of a verb considers its characteristics of transitivity and intransitivity.
*** Transitivity
In the second example of the previous post:
- Carlo gives a book to Giulia
the verb was followed by a direct object (the book). In these cases it can be said that the action of the subject "transits," so to speak, from the subject to the direct object through the verb. In other words, the direct object is being directly acted upon by the verb: the action flows directly toward the direct object. In Italian the direct object is called complement of object.
A simple and fast way of grasping the role of the direct object is by seeing that it answers either the question "what" or "who." For example:
— Luigi buys…
— What? What does Luigi buy?
— A car: Luigi buys a car
Therefore, "a car" is the direct object: the buying action transits to it because the verb to buy requieres something to be bought.
— Luigi kisses…
— Who? Who does Luigi kiss?
— Beatrice: Luigi kisses Beatrice
Therefore, "Beatrice" is the direct object: the kissing action transits to her because the verb to kiss requieres someone to be kissed.
Verbs that allow or require having a direct object are called transitive verbs.
Up to this point, the same concept applies in Italian.
— Luigi compra…
— Cosa? Cosa compra Luigi?
— Un'automobile: Luigi compra un'automobile
— Luigi bacia…
— Chi? Chi bacia Luigi?
— Beatrice: Luigi bacia Beatrice
As shown in the first example of the previous post:
- Carlo gives Giulia a book
a transitive verb may also include an indirect object —Giulia in this example— along the direct object. In these cases it could be said that the action of the subject "transits," so to speak, from the subject to the direct object and then to the indirect object, through the verb. In other words, the indirect object is being indirectly acted upon by the verb: the action flows indirectly toward the indirect object. In Italian, the indirect object is called complement of term.
Just as the direct object answers the question "what" or "who," the indirect object answers the question "to/for whom?"
— Luigi writes a letter…
— To whom? To whom does Luigi write a letter?
— To his son: Luigi writes his son a letter
The Italian version would be:
— Luigi scrive una lettera…
— A chi? A chi Luigi scrive una lettera?
— A suo figlio: Luigi scrive una lettera a suo figlio
*** Intransitivity
In English there are verbs that do not allow having neither a direct object nor an indirect object. These verbs are called intransitive verbs. Take for instance the verb "to laugh:" one cannot "laugh someone something/someone." If I say, "Luigi laughs," you cannot ask, "what/who does Luigi laugh?" nor "to whom does Luigi laugh?"
It is at this point that the similarity between English and Italian ends.
- intransitive verbs in English cannot have neither a direct object nor an indirect object
- intransitive verbs in Italian cannot have a direct object but they may or may not be accompanied by an indirect object, that is, they may be used in an absolute way (without an indirect object) or with an indirect object
The following table clearly shows the differences.
| | |
English | they need to have a direct object, though it may be implicit in some cases
– John eats a hamburger
– John eats
| they cannot have neither a direct nor an indirect object
– John runs
|
| | |
| they may also have an indirect object, but that cannot be in itself, that is, one cannot have an indirect object unless there is also a direct object
– *John gives Mary
– John gives Mary a book | |
|
Italian | they need to have a direct object, though it may be implicit in some cases
– Enzo mangia una pizza
– Enzo mangia
| they cannot have a direct object, but they may have an indirect object
– Enzo corre
– Enzo telefona a Lucia
|
| | |
| they may also have an indirect object, but that cannot be in itself, that is, one cannot have an indirect object unless there is also a direct object
– *Enzo regala a Lucia
– Enzo regala un libro a Lucia | |
*** Important notes
1. In some transitive verbs the complement of object (direct object) must be made explicit to make sense, but not in others. Compare the following two sentences, where in both the complement of object has been left implicit. The first one leaves the listener wondering what Luigi is buying: the statement feels incomplete. This doesn't happen in the second one: the statement sounds perfectly acceptable even when the direct object has been omitted.
- Luigi compra (Luigi buys)
- Luigi mangia (Luigi eats)
Since the verb in the second sentence can work perfectly fine without a direct object, the verb is acting like an intransitive verb because the action stops on the verb itself.
The most important aspect to keep in mind from this is that it is better to understand transitivity as a way in which a verb can be used, rather than an inherent feature of a verb. Depending on the verb and on the situation, a verb may be used only in a transitive way, only in an intransitive way, or in either of them.
- il Papa benedice la folla di fedeli ⇐ the verb benedire can only be used in a transitive way
- il treno parte ⇐ the verb partire can only be used in an intransitive way
- Luigi mangia pizza ⇐ the verb mangiare is being used in a transitive way
- Luigi mangia ⇐ the verb mangiare is being used in an intransitive way
2. On the one hand, the Italian complement of object (direct object) acts as a complement to the verb in a direct way, that is, without the need of a preposition. On the other hand, the complement of term (indirect object) acts as a complement to the verb in an indirect way, that is, it does it through the preposition "a." When the Italian complement of the verb is preceded by other prepositions (e.g. "con"), it is then called indirect complement.
- Marco chiama Veronica (= complement of object)
- Marco telefona a Veronica (= complement of term)
- Marco balla con Veronica (= indirect complement)
- Marco lavora per Veronica (= indirect complement)
- Marco parla di Veronica (= indirect complement)
- Marco compra dei fiori a Veronica (= complement of term)
*** Italian grammatical terms
- mood: modo
- infinitive: infinito
- participle: participio
- gerund: gerundio
- indicative: indicativo
- subjunctive: congiuntivo
- conditional: condizionale
- imperative: imperativo
- tense: tempo
- present: presente
- present perfect: passato prossimo
- imperfect: imperfetto
- past perfect: trapassato prossimo
- remote past: passato remoto
- preterite perfect: trapassato remoto
- simple future: futuro semplice
- future perfect: futuro anteriore
- first person: prima persona
- second person: seconda persona
- third person: terza persona
- singular: singolare
- plural: plurale
- genre: genere
- form: forma
- transitivity: transitività
- intransitivity: intransitività
- transitive verb: verbo transitivo
- intransitive verb: verbo intransitivo
- direct object: complemento di oggetto
- indirect object: complemento di termine
- indirect complement: complemento indiretto