A transitive verb licenses a direct object; an intransitive verb does not. In Esperanto the direct object normally takes accusative -n, but the ending does not create transitivity by itself. The lexical verb decides which participants can appear and how they are marked.
A verb supplies a pattern of roles
Think of each verb as bringing a small frame. Vidi needs a seer as subject and permits the thing seen as a direct object. Dormi needs a sleeper but does not permit a thing “slept.”
La infano vidas la hundon.
The child sees the dog.
La infano dormas sur la sofo.
The child is sleeping on the sofa.
In the first sentence, la hundon is directly selected by vidas. In the second, sur la sofo is a location complement introduced by a preposition; it is not an object.
| Verb type | Basic frame | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| transitive | subject + verb + direct object | vidi ion, legi libron, malfermi pordon |
| intransitive | subject + verb; optional non-object complements | dormi, okazi, alveni en urbo |
Transitive verbs and their objects
The object is the participant seen, changed, possessed, sought, or otherwise directly involved according to the verb's meaning.
Mi legis la raporton en la trajno.
I read the report on the train.
Ŝi fermis ĉiujn fenestrojn antaŭ ol foriri.
She closed all the windows before leaving.
Ĉu vi trovis miajn ŝlosilojn? — Ne, mi ankoraŭ serĉas ilin.
— Did you find my keys? — No, I'm still looking for them.
English prepositions are not reliable guides. Esperanto serĉi takes a direct object even though English says “look for.” So do atendi “wait for,” peti “ask/request,” and aŭskulti “listen to” in their ordinary frames.
Ni atendis la buson preskaŭ kvardek minutojn.
We waited for the bus for almost forty minutes.
Mi ofte aŭskultas tiun podkaston dum kuirado.
I often listen to that podcast while cooking.
The two n-phrases in atendis la buson kvardek minutojn have different functions: la buson is the direct object; kvardek minutojn measures duration. Form alone cannot replace syntactic analysis.
Intransitive verbs and complements
An intransitive verb may have rich information after it without acquiring a direct object.
La trajno alvenis al la stacidomo je la oka.
The train arrived at the station at eight.
Ni parolis pri la propono dum la tagmanĝo.
We talked about the proposal during lunch.
Kio okazis al via telefono?
What happened to your phone?
Al la stacidomo is a destination, pri la propono a topic, and al via telefono the affected experiencer of an event. None is a direct object. Changing word order does not remove the preposition or license -n.
Some verbs are intransitive in a central sense but allow a limited object that specifies a type of action: danci valson “dance a waltz,” vivi bonan vivon “live a good life,” morti gloran morton “die a glorious death.” These are established lexical extensions, not proof that any intransitive verb can freely take an object.
La paro dancis valson dum la lasta kanto.
The couple danced a waltz during the final song.
Object omission does not necessarily change valency
A transitive verb can often appear without its object when the object is unknown, generic, obvious, or irrelevant.
Ĉu vi jam manĝis? — Jes, mi manĝis antaŭ unu horo.
— Have you eaten yet? — Yes, I ate an hour ago.
Manĝi remains capable of taking an object: manĝi supon. The omitted object is simply not expressed. This is different from a fundamentally intransitive verb such as dormi.
Ŝi legas antaŭ dormo, sed ŝi ne diris, kion ŝi nun legas.
She reads before bed, but she didn't say what she is currently reading.
The first legas has a generic omitted object; kion supplies the object in the subordinate question.
A practical test is passive formation. A direct object can normally become the subject of a passive clause: Ili fermis la ponton → La ponto estis fermita. A location or topic cannot undergo that transformation.
La urbo fermis la ponton pro la ŝtormo.
The city closed the bridge because of the storm.
La ponto estis fermita pro la ŝtormo.
The bridge was closed because of the storm.
The test is useful, though lexical meaning and idiom still matter.
Paired meanings: cause versus change
Esperanto often distinguishes a transitive cause from an intransitive change. Sometimes separate lexical verbs do the work; often the suffixes -ig- and -iĝ- make the contrast explicit.
| Transitive cause | Intransitive event/change |
|---|---|
| mortigi iun — kill someone | morti — die |
| malfermi la pordon — open the door | la pordo malfermiĝas — the door opens |
| komenci la kunvenon — start the meeting | la kunveno komenciĝas — the meeting starts |
| bruligi paperon — burn paper | la papero brulas — the paper burns |
La vento malfermis la pordon, kaj ĝi restis malfermita.
The wind opened the door, and it remained open.
La pordo malfermiĝis pro la forta vento.
The door opened because of the strong wind.
In the first sentence, the wind causes a change to the object la pordon. In the second, la pordo itself undergoes the change and is the subject. Do not add -n to it.
The system is productive, but not every pair has identical morphology. Morti/mortigi and boli/boligi use -ig- only on the causative side; komenci/komenciĝi use -iĝ- on the intransitive side. Learn a verb's conventional frame along with its meaning. The detailed derivational logic belongs on valency-changing derivation.
Tense and mood never change transitivity
Changing -i to -as, -is, -os, -us, or -u does not change the verb's frame.
Mi malfermas la fenestron nun, malfermis ĝin hieraŭ kaj malfermos ĝin morgaŭ.
I am opening the window now, opened it yesterday, and will open it tomorrow.
Malfermu la fenestron, se la ĉambro estas tro varma.
Open the window if the room is too warm.
The object stays accusative in every form. Conditional malfermus would likewise remain transitive.
Verbs with accepted alternative frames
Some verbs permit more than one established construction. Helpi can take a direct object or an al-complement.
Ĉu vi povas helpi min porti ĉi tiun skatolon?
Can you help me carry this box?
Ĉu vi povas helpi al mi pri ĉi tiu tasko?
Can you help me with this task?
Both are normative. The existence of such alternatives does not make all prepositions optional. Record the actual frame of each verb from good examples and dictionaries.
Infinitive combinations preserve lexical valency
Modal and phase verbs often form a complex predicate with an infinitive. The infinitive decides the object pattern of the core action.
Ni devas ripari la tegmenton antaŭ la vintro.
We have to repair the roof before winter.
Baldaŭ ĉesos pluvi.
It will soon stop raining.
La tegmenton belongs to transitive ripari. Impersonal pluvi supplies neither subject nor object, so ĉesos pluvi is complete without either. The modal or phase verb does not invent additional roles.
Common Mistakes
Copying English “wait for”
❌ Ni atendis por la buso.
Incorrect — atendi takes the awaited thing as a direct object.
✅ Ni atendis la buson.
We waited for the bus.
Copying English “listen to”
❌ Mi aŭskultas al la radio.
Incorrect in the ordinary frame — aŭskulti is transitive.
✅ Mi aŭskultas la radion.
I am listening to the radio.
Treating the event after okazi as an object
❌ Okazis gravan akcidenton proksime.
Incorrect — the event is the subject of intransitive okazis.
✅ Okazis grava akcidento proksime.
A serious accident happened nearby.
Using a causative verb without its object
❌ La birdo mortigis hieraŭ.
Incorrect for 'the bird died' — mortigi means cause someone or something to die.
✅ La birdo mortis hieraŭ.
The bird died yesterday.
Confusing fini with finiĝi
❌ La kunveno finis je la sesa.
Incorrect — the meeting undergoes the ending, so use finiĝi.
✅ La kunveno finiĝis je la sesa.
The meeting ended at six.
Key Takeaways
- A verb's lexical valency determines whether it can take a direct object.
- Direct objects normally take -n; prepositional complements keep the preposition required by their role.
- English prepositions are unreliable guides: atendi, serĉi, and aŭskulti are transitive in Esperanto.
- An omitted object does not automatically make a normally transitive verb intransitive.
- -ig- and -iĝ- often distinguish causing a change from undergoing it, but conventional frames must still be learned.
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Start learning Esperanto →Related Topics
- Direct ObjectsA1 — Learn which Esperanto verb complements are direct objects, how -n marks them, and how object marking remains stable when word order changes.
- Two Objects and ValencyA2 — How Esperanto distributes recipients, things transferred, and other participants between the accusative and prepositional phrases.
- Valency-Changing DerivationB1 — Use -ig- and -iĝ- to add a causer, remove a causer, and build precise causative and change-of-state verbs in Esperanto.
- Verb-Preposition FramesB1 — Learn which Esperanto verbs take direct objects and which select al, pri, de, kun, or je—and how the frame changes meaning.
- Impersonal VerbsB1 — Build subjectless Esperanto clauses for weather, ambient conditions, necessity, and topics without inserting English dummy it or there.
- Active VoiceB1 — Use active clauses and active participles to present the doer, experiencer, or state-holder as the grammatical subject.