Transitive Verbs

Transitive verbs are used with an object. You can tell it’s a transitive verb if another noun is involved in the action.

She walked the dog.

There’s an object here: the dog. In this sentence, walked is transitive.

She walked in the park.

In this sentence, walked only refers to the subject, so it’s intransitive.

Here are some more sentences using transitive verbs:

The shelf is holding a vase and a few books.

I love teaching students.

Send me a postcard from Australia!

The uncle took his niece to the zoo.

N.B. A lot of English verbs can be transitive or intransitive, depending on the meaning. Look for the object to clearly identify a transitive verb.