What is the action verb that does not have a direct object called?

An intransitive verb is characterized by the absence of a direct object, meaning it does not transfer action to something or someone. In other words, the action expressed by an intransitive verb is complete in itself and does not require an object to receive the action. For example, in the sentence "The dog barks," "barks" is an intransitive verb because there is no object receiving that action; the barking does not act upon anything.

In contrast, transitive verbs do have direct objects that receive the action. Modifiers and nouns serve entirely different functions in a sentence, with modifiers providing additional detail and nouns serving as the names of people, places, things, or ideas. The distinctions among these terms are important for understanding sentence structure and grammatical functions.