In proper English, "lie" is intransitive and "lay" is transitive. If the action is being applied to an object, like a book, you want the transitive verb: Lay the book on the table.

In proper English, “lie” is intransitive and “lay” is transitive. If the action is being applied to an object, like a book, you want the transitive verb: Lay the book on the table.

Geoff Pullum pictures in his mind’s eye the crusty old editor who wrote the section on transitive verbs in a harshly judgmental style book.

In the past, the car’s paint job has shone or shined. Weave. This verb also has both transitive and intransitive forms, but there’s no note saying their past tenses are different.

A direct object, however, need not always be someone or something other than the subject itself. In grammar as in real life, there are many situations in which the subject can perform actions to or ...

There are many transitive verbs that require both a subject (agent or experiencer) and a direct object (theme or patient). In the active voice, the agent or experiencer may be omitted in the grammar.

“We” is the subject. “Set” is the transitive verb. “Differences” is the direct object. Sit means “to be seated.” Sit is an intransitive verb. Intransitive verbs are always action verbs, and they do ...

There are many transitive verbs that require both a subject (agent or experiencer) and a direct object (theme or patient). In the active voice, the agent or experiencer may be omitted in the grammar.

In a transitive verb, someone else performs the action upon the object: “I surfaced the sunken sub.” “Surface” the noun first appeared in English in the late 16th century, the Oxford English ...