Grammar Girl here. This week, I'll give you an easy trick for remembering the difference between

transitive and intransitive verbs. And we'll talk about double possessives like I'm a friend of

Fred's. But first, I want to remind you about my grammar game for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac desktop.

If you've got a new device or new computer, check out Grammar Pop while you're exploring.

You match words with their part of speech to pop clouds. It starts easy, but by the end,

it's pretty hard. Kids can definitely play the lower levels, but even most adults will be

challenged by the middle and highest levels. Search for Grammar Pop. So I hate scary sounding

grammar words as much as you probably do, but I have a quick and dirty tip to help you remember

the difference between transitive verbs and intransitive verbs. Transitive verbs require an object.

For example, filled is a transitive verb, and the cup is the object in this sentence.

She filled the cup. It doesn't make much sense to have filled without an object. She filled.

That's incomplete. The tip for remembering the name is to think of transitive verbs as transferring

their action to the object. Transitive and transfer both start with the prefix trans. Here are some

examples of transitive verbs. They designated a hitter, the clock struck one. Intransitive verbs

on the other hand don't take an object. Here are some examples. You can simply say, he ran.

They napped. Some verbs can be transitive or intransitive depending on how they're used in a sentence.

To cheer is one example. You can simply say, they cheered, or you can cheer something, an object,

and say, they cheered the band. And that was your quick and dirty tip. Next, guest writer Bonnie Tringa

is going to help us answer this question about double possessives from a listener named Kathy.

Quote, which is correct? I'm a friend of Fred, or I'm a friend of Fred's, or I'm a friend of Fred's,

unquote. She points out that it would sound normal to say he's a friend of mine, and mine is the

possessive pronoun. Kathy's right, though you usually use only one possessive at a time. Many

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