Transitive and Intransitive

Verbs
Traditionally, a verb is defined as a ‘doing word’ or an ‘action word’. While this
definition may be applicable to many verbs, it is inaccurate for some others,
because verbs can also refer to states or conditions. The verb berhenti (stop)
in Indonesian, for example, means ‘to be in a stationary position’, so there is
no action as such.
In Indonesian, we need to distinguish between intransitive and transitive
verbs, according to whether the verb requires only one or more than one
noun to accompany it to made sense when we use it in a sentence.
 Intransitive Verbs
• An intransitive verb is a verb that needs only one noun (or noun phrase) to
accompany it in a sentence. We refer to this noun (phrase) as the subject.
Duduk (sit) and berlari (run) are examples of intransitive verbs.

Subject Intransitive Verb

Anto duduk
Anto sits
Nenek berjalan
Grandmother walks
Adik saya menangis
My younger sibling cries
 Intransitive Verbs
• In a sentence you can add something other than a noun after the intransitive
verb, such as a prepositional phrase (a preposition followed by a noun) or a
manner adverb (a word placed after a verb that tells us the manner in which an
action is done.
Subject Intransitive Verb Prepositional Phrase
Anto duduk di kursi
Anto sits on the chair
Nenek berjalan ke pasar
Grandmother walks to market
Subject Intransitive Manner Adverb
Ani menangis keras
Ani cries loudly
Tono tidur lelap
Tono sleeps soundly
 Intransitive Verbs
• We can also make the sentences more complex by combining a manner adverb with a
prepositional phrase.

Subject Intransitive Manner Adverb Prepositional

Verb Phrase
Tono tidur lelap di kursi

Tono sleeps soundly on the chair

Nenek berjalan cepat ke pasar

Grandmother walks quickly to market

 Intransitive Verbs
• Intransitive verbs take different forms.Some
have no affix, some have the ber- prefix,
some have the meN- prefix and some have
the ter- prefix. The tables that follow list only
some of the intransitive verbs in each of these
groups. The capital letter N in the prefix meN-
indicates the sound change that occurs when
the prefix is attached to a base word
 Simple intransitive verbs
(no affix)
• Datang • To come
• Duduk • To sit
• Hidup • To live
• Ingat • To remember
• Jatuh • To fall
• Keluar • To exit, go out of
• Lulus • To pass (an exam) or test
• Lupa • To forget
• Mandi • To bathe oneself
• Masuk • To enter, go into
• Mulai • To start, begin
• Percaya • To believe
• Pergi • To go
• Pindah • To move from one place to another
• Pulang • To go home
• Selesai • To finish
• Singgah • To stop over
• Tahu • To know
• Terbang • To fly
• Tiba • To arrive
• Tidur • To sleep
• tinggal • To stay, live (reside)
 Intransitive Verbs with ber-
BASE WORD INTRANSITIVE VERB ENGLISH MEANING
ajar belajar To learn. study
angkat berangkat To leave, depart
bahasa berbahasa To use a language
baring berbaring To lie down
belanja berbelanja To go shopping
bicara berbicara To speak
buat berbuat To do, commit
cakap bercakap To chat
diri berdiri To stand
gurau bergurau To joke around
hati berhati To take care
henti berhenti To stop (be stationary)
hias berbias To groom oneself
istirahat beristirahat To take a rest
jalan berjalan To walk
 Intransitive verbs with ber-
kembang berkembang To develop
kerja bekerja To work
kuasa berkuasa To have the authority
kumpul Berkumpul To gather
lari berlari To run
libur berlibur To go on holiday
main bermain To play
nyanyi bernyanyi To sing
pegang berpegang To hold onto
perang berperang To engage in a war
renang berenang To swim
selancar berselancar To surf
sembahyang bersembahyang To pray
tangdang bertandang To visit someone
temu bertemu To meet
ubah berubah To change
 Intransitive verbs with meN-
BASE WORD INTRANSITIVE VERB ENGLISH MEANING
bual membual To boast

cangkul mencangkul To hoe

dengkur mendengkur To snore

inap menginap To stay the night

lompat melompat To jump

nyanyi menyanyi To sing

rangkak merangkak To crawl

rokok merokok To smoke

tangis menangis To cry

tari menari To dance

tinggal meninggal To die

uap menguap To yawn

 Intransitive verbs with ter-
BASE WORD INTRANSITIVE ENGLISH
VERB MEANING

senyum tersenyum To smile

tawa tertawa To laugh

 Latihan 1
Write a caption in Indonesian for each of the following pictures using the intransitive
verbs listed on the previous slides.
 Note
• Some intransitive verbs can take either the ber- or the meN- prefix with no
difference in meaning.
• Bernyanyi/menyani to sing
• Berbekas/membekas to leave a mark or trace
• Some other intransitive verbs take what are sometimes called pseudo-objects
(nouns that look like objects, but are not perceived as being affected by the
action.
• Bermain gitar to play the guitar
• Bertepuk tangan to clap (one’s) hands
• Bersepatu roda to roller skate

• In these cases, we treat the verb and the following word as constituting one
activity. In the previous examples, the words gitar, tangan and roda are
considered as part of the verbs bermain, bertepuk and bersepatu respectively.