Do you know what a transitive verb is? This transitive verb will provide you with all of the information you need on transitive verbs, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
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According to Thought Co., there are many different types of verbs in the English language:
Dynamic Verbs, Active Verbs, Action Verbs and Stative Verbs
Catenative Verbs
Transitive Verbs and Intransitive Verbs
Regular Verbs and Irregular Verbs
Reporting Verbs
Mental-State Verbs
Copular Verbs
Performative Verbs
Finite Verbs and Nonfinite Verbs
Auxiliary Verbs, Helping Verbs, and Lexical Verbs
Prepositional Verbs
Iterative Verbs
Causative Verbs
Today, we will be exploring the types of transitive verbs, like a type of action verb or transitive phrasal verb. According to Your Dictionary, transitive verbs are verbs that express action and are followed by a direct object. Intransitive verbs do not require an object. These are followed by prepositional phrases or an adverb. Common verbs that are transitive might be hit, buy, or eat. You cannot simply “hit,” you must hit something. There is some controversy regarding complex transitives, monotransitive verbs, ditransitive verbs, and tritransitives. Some verbs have both transitive and intransitive uses.
Many different languages also contain words that mean transitive verb. You may notice that some of these translations of transitive verb look and sound similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are words and phrases in different languages that likely have the same root or language of origin, causing them to sound the same. The below list of translations of transitive verb is provided by Word Sense.
Transitive verbs can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or grammatical technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are a couple of examples of transitive verbs that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Take a look at these transitive verb examples in the following sentences and see how many you can identify the transitive verb in, like in the first sentence of the following examples!
Mom ate the tart for her birthday.
She learned a foreign language in high school.
Alex and Alicia emptied the dishwasher and cleaned the dishes before going to the movies.
There are many grammatical devices that you might see when you are reading prose or poetry. It is important to recognize these terms because they are always used for some purpose. Knowing these devices can help readers understand the author’s deeper meaning and why they are using such a device. Take a look at the below list of grammatical devices from OED and see how many you know! Then try researching ones that are unfamiliar to you.
Overall, a transitive verb is a verb that performs an action on a direct object. Intransitive verbs on the other hand do not require a direct object, nor should they have one.
Kevin Miller is a growth marketer with an extensive background in Search Engine Optimization, paid acquisition and email marketing. He is also an online editor and writer based out of Los Angeles, CA. He studied at Georgetown University, worked at Google and became infatuated with English Grammar and for years has been diving into the language, demystifying the do's and don'ts for all who share the same passion! He can be found online here.