Verb Valency & Transitivity Studio
In chemistry, valency is the number of bonds an atom forms. In linguistics, verb valency is the exact number and type of grammatical arguments (subject, direct object, indirect object, prepositional phrase) a verb demands to form a complete syntactic thought.
No true subject. Llueve (ES), Il pleut (FR - dummy subject), Es regnet (DE).
Requires only a subject. He sleeps, El bebé duerme, Das Kind schläft.
Requires Subject + Object/Prep. She eats bread, Ich helfe dir (Dat).
Subject + Direct Object + Indirect Recipient. I give Maria the book.
entrar (to enter)
⚠️ Translation Trap: In English, 'enter' is transitive ('enter the room'). In Spanish, it is intransitive and requires 'en' or 'a' ('entró en la sala').
dar (to give)
⚠️ Translation Trap: Requires redundant indirect object clitic doubling: 'Le di las llaves a Carlos'.
romper (to break)
⚠️ Translation Trap: Can be transitive ('rompí el plato') or anticausative/involuntary ('el plato se rompió').
acordar (to agree on vs to remember)
⚠️ Translation Trap: Without 'se', it means to agree upon a treaty; with 'se + de', it means to remember!
entrer (to enter)
⚠️ Translation Trap: Must take 'dans' in French: 'Il est entré dans la pièce', never '*Il a entré la pièce'.
demander (to ask)
⚠️ Translation Trap: English: 'ask him a question' (double object). French: requires 'à' for the person ('demander à Paul').
manquer (to miss)
⚠️ Translation Trap: In French, the missed person is the grammatical SUBJECT: 'Tu me manques' = You are missing to me (I miss you).
helfen (to help)
⚠️ Translation Trap: In English and Romance, help takes a direct object. In German, it strictly requires Dativ ('Ich helfe dir', never *'dich').
schenken (to gift / give)
⚠️ Translation Trap: Dativ person precedes Akkusativ noun, but pronouns invert order (Akk pronoun before Dat pronoun: 'Ich schenke es ihm').
betreten (to enter / step into)
⚠️ Translation Trap: While 'treten' is intransitive ('treten in + Akk'), the prefix 'be-' transforms it into a pure transitive verb: 'Er betritt das Zimmer'.
piacere (to like (to be pleasing to))
⚠️ Translation Trap: The item liked is the true grammatical subject: 'Mi piacciono i libri' (Books are pleasing to me).
chiedere (to ask)
⚠️ Translation Trap: Always requires preposition 'a' for the person asked: 'Chiedi a Marco'.
assistir (to watch vs to assist/care for)
⚠️ Translation Trap: With 'a', it means to watch ('assistir ao jogo'); without 'a', it means to assist or give medical care ('assistir o paciente')!
obedecer (to obey)
⚠️ Translation Trap: English: 'obey the law' (direct object). Standard Portuguese: requires 'a' ('obedecer à lei').
listen (to listen)
⚠️ Translation Trap: Unlike Spanish 'escuchar' or French 'écouter' which take direct objects, English 'listen' strictly demands 'to'!
boil (to boil)
⚠️ Translation Trap: In English, the same verb functions intransitively ('The water boils') and transitively ('I boil the water') without morphological change.
Interactive Valency Argument Challenge
Identify which argument or preposition completes the syntactic valence requirement.