If your insistence on knowing about the transitivity of the verb “insist” proves to be too insistent, don't worry, we'll take care that you don't insist anymore in this case.
Gosh! There are so many insistences, isn't it true? But believe that these repeated expressions were only to illustrate and relax the discussion that we propose to raise: the transitivity of the verb to insist.
When we insist, we always insist on something, do you agree? Therefore, let us analyze some examples, which portray the veracity of the facts listed here:
So-and-so insists on making me sad with certain attitudes.
My friends insisted that I stay.
How you insist on this unreasonable and inelegant conversation!
In all the statements we noticed that the verb in question was governed by the prepositions “in” (first and third case) and “to” (second case). So, it is a indirect transitive verb, given the presence of prepositions.
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However, we have identified there sayings whose verb is found without the preposition, as in:
The teacher insists that he will no longer teach at this school. In fact, such a speech should be expressed like this:
The teacher insists on the idea that he will no longer teach at this school.
But, as we know, verbal transitivity often depends on the communicative context itself, which is why such a verb can also present itself as intransitive, that is, regardless of any additions, see:
You are capable of achieving your real goals, so insist!
By Vânia Duarte
Graduated in Letters
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
DUARTE, Vânia Maria do Nascimento. "Verb to insist: a matter of transitivity"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/gramatica/verbo-insistir-uma-questao-transitividade.htm. Accessed on June 28, 2021.
