Transitive/Intransitive Verbs – Free Exercise

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Exercises C1

Decide if the underlined verb is transitive or intransitive.

  1. Ich schreibe einen Brief.[I’m writing a letter.]|There is an accusative object → transitive|What am I writing? - a letter
  2. Die Kinder gehen in die Schule.[The children go to school.]|There is no accusative object → intransitive|Who is going where?|to school is accusative, but it’s a place and not an accusative object
  3. Bei 0°C gefriert Wasser.[Water freezes at 0° Celsius.]|There is no accusative object → intransitive|Who/what is freezing when?
  4. Der Vater holt seine Tochter vom Kindergarten ab.[The father picks up his daughter from kindergarten.]|There is an accusative object → transitive|Who is he picking up? - his daughter
  5. Ich habe Kaffee gekocht.[I’ve made coffee.]|There is an accusative object → transitive|What did I make? - coffee
  6. Das Auto ist zu schnell gefahren.[The car went too fast.]|There is no accusative object → intransitive|Who/what went too fast? the car (subject)
  7. Wir tanzten die ganze Nacht.[We danced all night.]|There is no accusative object → intransitive|Who danced when?
  8. Ich habe mich verlaufen.[I got lost.]|There is no accusative object → intransitive|all reflexive verbs are intransitive|Who got lost? (not: Who did I get lost?)
  9. Ich bin gestern einer alten Freundin begegnet.[I met an old friend yesterday.]|There is no accusative object → intransitive|With whom did I meet? (indirect object)|To note: If the sentence were „Ich traf gestern eine alte Freundin.“, then a friend would be the accusative object (Who did I meet?) and treffen would therefore be transitive.
  10. Du hast dem Fremden den Weg erklärt.[You showed the stranger the way.]|There is an accusative object → transitive|What did you show to the stranger? - the way

Choose the correct form.

  1. An der Tür ein Zettel.[A sign hung on the door.]|What hangs where?|intransitive verb → irregular form
  2. Nachdem mich eine Biene gestochen hatte, mein Gesicht an.[After a bee stung me, my face swelled up.]|What swelled up?|intransitive verb → irregular form
  3. Warum hast du das Bild ? [Why did you take down the picture?]|What did you take down? - the picture|transitive verb → regular form
  4. Als ich das sah, ich.[When I saw that, I was scared.]|Who was scared?|intransitive verb → irregular form
  5. Der Wind die Segel.[The wind swelled the sails.]|What did the wind swell? - the sails|transitive verb → regular form
  6. Der Junge verkleidete sich als Monster und die Passanten.[The boy dressed up as a monster and scared the passers-by.]|Who did the boy scare? - the passers-by|transitive verb → regular form