For Grammarians: Is the word "sobrevivir" intransitive?
Why is sobrevivir - Word of the Day August 5 - defined grammatically as an intransitive verb when in the two example sentences use it with direct objects?
Sobrevivimos el terremoto.
Tristemente, sobrevivía a sus hijos.
I like grammar, I usually understand grammar, but not this time.
5 Answers
Well, the RAE only mentions that this verb is used intransitively. Looking in the DPD, it mentions that it should be constructed with an indirect object (to describe the event, thing or person that one survives, outlives or outlasts).
In regards to the example sentences:
Sobrevivimos el terremoto.
I would suggest that this is probably a typo and that the correct sentence should be:
?Sobrevivimos al terremoto.
In any case, there is certainly some evidence (taken from various news outlets) to support this usage:
?Sobreviví al terremoto dentro de Fukushima
?Sobrevivimos al 'Apocalipsis' que nunca llegó
?Sobrevivimos al huracán debajo de la cama
Tristemente, sobrevivía a sus hijos.
This one seems pretty straightforward in that the complement "a sus hijos" is an indirect object, a fact that might be made more clear by the inclusion of the indirect object pronoun:
Tristemente, (él) sobrevivía a sus hijos. ? Tristemente, (él) les sobrevivía.
Many verbs can be either transitive or intransitive. For example,
He ran for hours.
He ran the marathon.
Sobrevivir is similar. So the definition is incomplete.
Transitive: Sobrevivió el teremoto.
Intransitive: Sobrevivía por muchos años.
Please refer to this article (there are plenty of others) explaining the dual nature of many verbs:
Not sure if I'm understanding exactly where you're coming from but if I am je je this might help:
A transitive verb is an action or linking verb that has a complement.
Dictionaries consider all linking verbs transitive.
An action verb which is transitive has a direct object. The action is being done to something or someone.
In most dictionaries the abbreviation v.t. means "verb, transitive."
Most verbs can be both intransitive and transitive depending on the sentence. Intransitive: He runs around the block daily. (There is no direct object.)
Transitive: He runs a large corporation. (The verb runs has a direct object, corporation.)
In your examples the action of the verb isn't being done to someone, they are doing it, they are surviving.
Like Iza said, it should have been "sobrevivimos al terremoto", where the "al terremoto" is the I.O.
Transitive and intransitive constructions are somewhat different in Spanish than in English. For example, hitting someone is transitive in English (there are intransitive uses of hit as well), but the corresponding verb in Spanish can be transitive (golpear) or intransitive (pegar).
