Transitivity

Verbs can be classified as transitive and intransitive, according to whether or not they require a Direct Object: something that the action of the verb is done to.

Intransitive verbs do not have objects. These include to go, to come and most verbs of motion. for example: "I'm going", "She was talking", "The dog barked", "They died". (Notice the difference between the intransitive 'to die' and the transitive 'to kill'.)

Transitive verbs require an object: "She loves her baby", "he loves her", "dogs chase cats" and "rain benefits crops".

Many verbs can be used both transitively and intransitively, with greater or lesser changes in meaning: "He was whistling" and "He was whistling a tune" are both possible; "She drives" (intransitive) and "She drives a Ford" (transitive; 'a Ford' is the Direct object, or COd) are closer in meaning than "John cooked the potatoes" (transitive; COd 'potatoes') and "The potatoes cooked slowly" (intransitive).

Ditransitive verbs can have an Indirect Object in addition to the Direct Object: "The King gave the hero some land". The Indirect Object is the thing or person onto or for whom the action of the verb is performed - indirectly.

For more on this, see Complement.