From: Óskar Guðlaugsson
Message: 221
Date: 2000-12-05
> "This is her" is an example of treating the verbDepends on how you analyze the English usage - I prefer the
> "to be" as though it were *transitive* (that is,
> it is something that you can do *to* something
> else: like "see" - I can not only see, but I can
> also "see my screen" (thus "see" is transitive)-
> as opposed to "go" - while I can go, I can't "go"
> something else ("go" is intransitive).
> Verb transitivity is *language specific*. So youVery true :) You can especially not count on words that are only of
> cannot count on a verb that is in/transitive in
> English being in/transitive in another language.
> Transitivity tells you whether a verb takes"Valencies?" (maybe both are used) :)
> direct objects or not. As verbs in declined
> languages can take indirect objects or no objects
> at all, it is better to use the concept of
> "valences".