Transitive, Intransitive

Question

Given a verb, label as transitive, intransitive, reflexive, or pronominal.

quemar

Lo siento. Incorrect. Because quemar does not use a direct object, it is intransitive.

A. pronominal B. intransitive C. transitive

You need an object to burn don't you?

Answer 1

Interesting. Good question, I´d have thought so too, at least as an option. When I´ve used it, it has been intransitive, as in ¨The house burns¨.

But, the site here shows transitive as possible too. This is probably a poorly formed quiz question that leaves ambiguity, where the author had an intransitive use in mind, but where transitive does in fact exist.

From this site:

Quemar

transitive verb 1. to burn (con fuego, calor, sol) ; to scald (con líquido hirviendo) quemaron una bandera americana -> they set fire to an American flag 2. (plantas) la helada quemó las plantas -> the frost killed the plants el sol quemó las plantas -> the plants withered in the sun 3. to go through, to fritter away (malgastar) (ahorros) 4. to burn out (informal) (desgastar) intransitive verb 5. to be (scalding) hot (estar caliente) ten cuidado que la sopa quema -> be careful, the soup's (scalding) hot 6. (informal) (desgastar) la política quema -> politics burns you out quemarse pronomial verb 1. to burn down (por fuego) ; to get scalded (por agua hirviendo) ; to burn (por calor) ; to burn out (por electricidad) se ha quemado la lasaña -> the lasagne's burnt