I read through Tae Kim's lesson "Verb Transitivity".

In the preceding section called "particles used with verbs", he says that unlike in 英語, motion verbs can take direct objects in 日本語.

街を歩く。 Walk town.
部屋を出た。 Left room.

Why are verbs like 歩く and 出る and other motion verbs classified as intransitive verbs? I checked these verbs in a dictionary and they're both vi. Isn't the definition of "intransitive" that it does not take direct objects though? So I don't know how verbs which CAN take direct objects are classified as vi.

Tae Kim explains it by saying that the only time the を particle can be used by intransitive verbs is with motion verbs where a location is the direct object. But I still don't understand why verbs, which can take direct objects, are classified as vi at all.

Thanks if you can explain this to me.

I think they are technically ambitransitive verbs, as they can be intransitive in the usual case but can be used transitively. Perhaps dictionaries tend to classify them in a stricter way: if they don't have to take an object they are intransitive.

vinniram Wrote:Why are verbs like 歩く and 出る and other motion verbs classified as intransitive verbs? I checked these verbs in a dictionary and they're both vi. Isn't the definition of "intransitive" that it does not take direct objects though?

A verb is 自動詞 or 他動詞 depending on whether it requires an object to be complete.

【自動詞】目的語がなくても意味が完結する。
【他動詞】目的語がないと意味が完結しない。

歩く does not require an object, so it's 自動詞:

○ 私が歩く
○ 私が街を歩く

見上げるrequires an object, so it's 他動詞:

× 私が見上げる
○ 私が空を見上げる

Some also argue that 街 is not an object in 「街を歩いた」because「街が歩かれた」makes no sense.