Definition of TRANSITIVE

What is the difference between a transitive verb and an intransitive verb?

A transitive verb is a verb that requires a direct object, which is a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that follows the verb and completes the sentence's meaning by indicating the person or thing that receives the action of the verb. The direct object typically answers the question what? or whom?:

The kids like pickles.

That really annoys me.

Have they sold their house yet?

An intransitive verb is not used with a direct object. If something comes after an intransitive verb, that is, in the position usually inhabited by the direct object, it doesn't answer what? or whom?; instead it answers a question like where?, when?, how?, or how long?:

Her car died suddenly last week.

Someone was coughing loudly.

A single verb can have both transitive and intransitive uses:

They are playing soccer.

They've been playing all afternoon.

A transitive verb can also have an indirect object, which is a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that comes before a direct object and indicates the person or thing that receives what is being given or done. Many common verbs can be used with both direct and indirect objects. In the following examples the indirect object is in italics:

Find her a chair.

Can you read me the letter?

Who gave her lawyers the information?

He's saving Caitlin a piece.

Examples of transitive in a Sentence

In “I like pie” and “She makes hats,” the verbs “like” and “makes” are transitive.

Recent Examples on the Web Arguments based in transitive nature can get down in the weeds. — Fletcher Page, Cincinnati.com, "Cincinnati football's case for the Cotton Bowl begins with AAC title win at Memphis," 5 Dec. 2019 Because of the transitive nature of open source, volunteer developers—who host code on the site to share with others—may have unwittingly contributed to the code GitHub furnished for ICE, the agency responsible for enforcing immigration policy. — Sidney Fussell, The Atlantic, "The Schism at the Heart of the Open-Source Movement," 3 Jan. 2020 Lorenzo von Fersen and Juan Delius, then both at Bochum, demonstrated that pigeons can memorize 725 abstract patterns and use transitive inference logic. — Onur Güntürkün, Scientific American, "“Birdbrain” Turns from Insult to Praise," 1 Jan. 2020 But if the Texans take it to the Patriots, then get whupped in that same yard by Denver ... then the Broncos are championship-caliber by virtue of the transitive property, right? — Nate Davis, USA TODAY, "32 things we learned from Week 14 of the 2019 NFL season," 9 Dec. 2019 Flattery by transitive property has been a staple of the SEC for so long, though, that the schadenfreude from Big Ten and Big 12 fans will be strong if Texas A&M and LSU flop in their big non-conference games this weekend. — Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, "Opinion: The SEC might be bad this year, but for Georgia and Alabama, that won't matter," 6 Sep. 2019 The verb fight is transitive here and does have an object. — Quanta Magazine, "Solution: ‘The Bulldogs That Bulldogs Fight’," 16 May 2019 By the transitive property, a room full of Colombians had come to cheer for an iconic German side. — Brad Rickman, Condé Nast Traveler, "The Loneliness of the American Soccer Fan," 15 June 2018 But as Abby later explained it, because Bates had beaten St. Olaf in pool play and Williams had beaten Bates at the regional tournament earlier in the season, by the Ultimate transitive property, Williams was now the national champion. — Michael W. Miller, WSJ, "A Clueless Dad’s Strange Trip to the Ultimate Tournament," 24 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'transitive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.