Transitive Verbs

What Are Transitive Verbs? (with Examples)

Easy Examples of Transitive Verbs

• Lee eats pies.
(Eats is transitive because you can eat something.)
• Lee loves mince pies.
(Loves is transitive because you can love something. Note that direct objects aren't usually single words. They're usually noun phrases, i.e., more than one word.)
• Lee bought dozens of cakes.
(Bought is transitive because you can buy something.)

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Easy Examples of Intransitive Verbs

• He fainted.
(Fainted is an intransitive verb. It has no direct object. You cannot faint something; e.g., you cannot say "He fainted her.")
• A vulture soared effortlessly overhead.
(Soared is an intransitive verb. It has no direct object. You cannot soar something; e.g., you cannot say "The vulture soared the air."
• The sharks are congregating near the raft.
(Are congregating is an intransitive verb. It has no direct object. However, you can congregate something; e.g., you can say "The whales are congregating the seals." So, some verbs can be both intransitive and transitive. There's more on this to come.)

More Examples of Transitive Verbs

• All the toys opened their eyes as the clock struck midnight.
(Q: Opened what? A: their eyes)
(Q: Struck what? A: midnight)
(A direct object does not have to be something tangible. If it answers the question "what?" or "whom?" in relation to a verb, then it's a direct object. Midnight is intangible, but it's a perfectly good direct object for the verb to strike.)

• No amount of time can erase the memory of a good cat, and no amount of masking tape can ever totally remove his fur from your couch. (Author Leo Buscaglia)
• You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow. (TV producer Jeff Valdez)
(Q: Can't get what? A: eight cats to pull a sled through snow)

• I loathe people who keep dogs. They are cowards who haven't got the guts to bite people themselves.
(Q: Loathe what? A: people who keep dogs)
(Q: Haven't got what? A: the guts to bite people)
(If you look at just the two direct objects in this example (i.e., the texts in bold), there's a transitive verb in each one. Q: Keep what? A: dogs; Q: To bite what? A: people)

More Examples of Intransitive Verbs

• Laugh and the world laughs with you; snore and you sleep alone. (Writer Anthony Burgess)
(These are all intransitive verbs. You can't laugh something, snore something or sleep something.)
• If the context changes, your greatest strength can emerge as a weakness. (Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle)
(These are both intransitive verbs. You can't emerge something, but, hang on, you can change something, e.g., your socks or hairstyle. So, to change is an example of a verb that can be transitive or intransitive.)

• If the context changes, your greatest strength can emerge as a weakness.
(Q: Changes what? A: Well, nothing...it just changes. That's what your answer will look like when you're dealing with an intransitive verb.)

• If you change the context, your greatest strength can emerge as a weakness.
(Q: Changes what? A: the context. Now, to change is transitive!)

• I could feel his muscle tissues crumple under my force. It's ludicrous these mortals even attempt to enter my realm. (Boxer Mike Tyson)
(Q: Crumple what? A: Nothing...just crumple. Intransitive.)

• I could crumple his muscle tissues with my force.
(Q: Crumple what? A: his muscle tissues. Transitive.)

Be Mindful of Linking Verbs

• Laziness appears attractive, but work gives satisfaction. (Diarist Anne Frank)
(Q: Appears what? A: attractive. We have an answer to the "what test," but to appear is not a transitive verb. It's an intransitive linking verb.)

Some Verbs Can Be Transitive or Intransitive

More about Transitive Verbs

• The tart was smashed.
(This is fine. A transitive verb can have a passive form.)

• The megalodon was existed about 2 million years ago.
(This is nonsense. An intransitive verb cannot have a passive form.)

What Does "Transitive" Mean?

• Lee caught. (incomplete)
(When the action does not transition through the verb to an object, the meaning is incomplete.)
• Lee caught a whelk.

• She gave the waiter a smile.
(Here, a smile is the direct object (it answers "gave what?"), and the waiter is the indirect object (it answers "for whom?").)

• He paid her.
(This is a transitive verb without a direct object. The meaning is still complete because the action transitions through the verb to an indirect object.)

A Video Summary

Why Should I Care about Transitive and Intransitive Verbs?

(Point 1) You will encounter this terminology when learning a foreign language in a classroom setting.

(Point 2) Avoid mistakes with to win and to learn.

• I won George.
(If you use the verb to win transitively, the direct object is your prize. It's not the person you beat. This sentence would be correct if George were a goldfish but not if he were your opponent.)
• He will learn you some manners.
(The transitive verb to learn doesn't take an indirect object. You can learn something, but you can't learn someone something in the same way you can teach someone something, give someone something, or pay someone something.)