Transitive vs intransitive: high-impact verbs

Many English learners struggle with transitive verbs by adding unnecessary prepositions. Because of first-language (L1) interference from languages where a preposition is required, it is common to hear mistakes like discuss about, reach to, enter into, or marry with. However, high-impact transitive verbs such as discuss, reach, enter, attend, marry, and contact take a direct object immediately after the verb, without any preposition. For example, you should say "We discussed the plan" (not "discussed about the plan") and "She contacted the manager" (not "contacted to the manager").

It is also important to master verbs with special patterns. For instance, the verb explain follows the structure explain + thing + to + person (e.g., "He explained the rules to us"), rather than explain + person + thing. Conversely, some verbs are strictly intransitive and do require a preposition to connect to an object. Common examples include arrive at a destination or listen to a song.

This challenge uses spot-and-correct and fill-in-the-blank question formats wrapped in engaging, real-life micro-stories to help you master these tricky verb patterns. Try the quiz to check your knowledge!