Go Transitive or Intransitive

Question

I'm a little confused by the verb 'go'. I know that it is intransitive. My issue is that I intuitively feel that it may have some transitive uses when used in the context of activities. For example:

Let's go fishing.

It follows the template 'subject verb object' so I would assume that in this context "go" is transitive.
Can someone please explain to me why my intuition is wrong?

BillJ · Answer

Let's go fishing.

Yes, "go" is intransitive here, and "fishing" is a verb, not a noun.
It's essentially a catenative construction.
1st person inclusive let-imperatives contain the catenative verb let together with an NP object (here "us" reduced to 's) and a bare infinitival clause (here go fishing) as second complement.
In your particular example, the catenative verb go has the gerund-participial clause "fishing" as its catenative complement.

Go Transitive or Intransitive

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