Transitive Verbs and the Accusative Case in the Russian Language

Transitive verbs are verbs that require a direct object to complete their meaning. In Russian, such verbs are called ‘переходные глаголы.’ Remember that the direct objects of transitive verbs typically take the accusative case.

For example, the verbs “читать” (to read) and “писать” (to write) are transitive. When you want to say “I am reading a book” in Russian, you would say “Я читаю книгу,” where “книгу” is the direct object in the accusative case. Similarly, the verb “писать” is also transitive. The sentence “She is writing a letter” translates to “Она пишет письмо,” with “письмо” in the accusative case.

The object of the action can also be animate. In the sentence “He met his friend,” you would say “Он встретил друга,” where “друга” is the direct object in the accusative case. The same applies to verbs like “любить” (to love), “ненавидеть” (to hate), “обижать” (to offend), etc.

It is important to note that reflexive verbs cannot be transitive under any circumstances. Accordingly, reflexive verbs do not combine with nouns in the accusative case.