You may not necessarily (probably not) be able to tell by looking at the verb but..if you analyze the verb in a sentence then it is easier...or if you need to figure out what the verb is..make a sentence and analyze it. There are a lot of which can be both depending on the sentence, to name a few such as Meet, Change, Stand. Some verbs take preference over one or the other, so you may not see them in either the transitive or intransitive form, also their meaning may change. ex: transitive - I met the president. (subject + verb + object) versus Intransitive - we had met in New York City ( Subject + verb + (optional/obligatory adverbial, in this case a Prepositional phrase (in .... place ) usually a location or direction.)). In that case it was obligatory, you met where? in NYC. Intransitive - I am standing (in the rain, optional), versus transitive - I can't stand the rain. (stand changes meaning to no toleration/dislike) Usually a transitive has a object that, as in the first sentence which is a noun phrase, Determiner(article the) + noun ->the president or the rain, etc... Ditransitive aka two objects such as the verb "gave". ex: they gave him the paper. (sub + verb + Indirect obj + direct obj) or gave the paper to him (direct obj + indirect object) Hope that helps.

I do not believe there is any rule to help students. Some verbs are transitive, some intransitive, some are both.