Would you like to enhance your writing, speaking, and grammar skills? If so, these transitive verb examples can help you do just that! We’ll look at 40 transitives today, along with example sentences. We will also practice how to pronounce ask, one of the more common verbs out there!
Transitive verb examples
Here are the first 10 of today’s transitive verb examples. Read through and practice saying them to get comfortable with their meanings.
| Transitive verb example | What does it mean? |
|---|---|
| Ask | This means to request an answer or some information. |
| Bake | To cook food by dry heat without direct exposure to a flame – we often bake bread and cookies, for example. |
| Call | To shout out or try to get someone’s attention with your voice. Also, it means to telephone someone. |
| Enjoy | This transitive verb means to take delight or pleasure in an activity – for instance we might enjoy swimming. |
| Fix | If you repaired something that is broken, then you fixed it! |
| Guess | To estimate or suppose – we don’t have enough information to be 100% sure. For instance, I guess he is angry by the look on his face. |
| Hire | To employ someone – to get someone to work at your place. |
| Invite | It means that we ask someone to go somewhere or do something. For instance, you might invite your friend to the park. |
| Join | To connect or fasten things together. Like we join the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together. |
| Kick | To strike or hit with a foot or feet. Just like we kick a ball during soccer practice. |
to be found further down this article!
Related: 35 Intransitive Verb Examples: Better Grammar Guide
What is a transitive verb?
Using transitive verbs correctly is essential to constructing meaningful and grammatically correct sentences. They are words that require one or more objects to express a complete thought. Here’s how and why to use them in sentences:
- The essential part: The object answers the questions “what?” or “whom?” after the transitive verb.
- They give a sense of completion: Without an object, a sentence with a transitive verb will feel incomplete.
- How to find a transitive verb? To determine if a verb is transitive, you can insert the verb into a sentence frame like “Someone ___ something” and see if it makes sense.
- The object can be a noun, pronoun, or phrase.
- Passive Voice: Transitive verbs can also be used in the passive voice where the object comes before the verb, for example, “Homework was assigned by the teacher.”
| Transitive verb sentence | Transitive verbs | Object Receiving the Action |
|---|---|---|
| “She carried the box upstairs.” | carried | the box |
| “The teacher assigned homework.” | assigned | homework |
How to pronounce ask
Practice how to pronounce ask with me! Say this sentence: I will ask my father for some money to buy some snacks. Both ask, and father have the same sound in this example.
To pronounce ‘ask’ in British English, follow these steps:
- Start with a long ‘ah’ sound, similar to the ‘a’ in ‘father’.
- Next, add the ‘s’ sound by positioning the tip of your tongue close to the ridge behind your upper teeth without touching it, letting air flow over the top of your tongue to create friction for the ‘s’.
- End with the ‘k’ sound by briefly stopping the airflow with the back of your tongue against the soft palate, then release it quickly.
Altogether it sounds like “ahsk”. The the phonetic spelling is /ɑːsk/
Remember to keep the vowels a bit rounded and deeper, reflecting the typical British or Australian accent where they tend to pronounce the ‘a’ in ‘ask’ as an open and back vowel sound.
In North American English, the pronunciation of “ask” is slightly different:
- The ‘a’ sound in “ask” is more akin to the ‘a’ in “cat”, a shorter and flatter vowel sound.
- The ‘s’ sound remains the same, with the tongue positioned near the ridge behind the upper teeth.
- The ‘k’ sound is also consistent with British or Australian English, with the airflow being stopped by the back of the tongue against the soft palate before being quickly released.
Overall, it sounds like “æsk”, with the vowel sound being the most notable difference from the British pronunciation.
Related: 35 Sentences With Appraise: How To Say It Formally!
Transitive verb examples: part 2
Here is the second lot of transitive verb examples – keep reading and repeating, you’re doing super!
| Transitive verb example | What it means |
|---|---|
| Love | To feel a deep romantic attachment to someone. It’s also used in more casual English to explain how we really like something! |
| Move | This means to change position or place, to not be still. |
| Name | This transitive verb means to give a name to something or someone. For instance, I named my cat “Oliver”. |
| Order | To request (something) to be made, supplied, or served. Also, it means that we tell someone something very strictly, such as: Clean the floor now. |
| Pay | This verb means to give (someone) money that is due for work done, goods received, or a debt incurred. |
| Quote | To repeat or copy out (a group of words from a text or speech), typically with an indication that we are not the original author or speaker. |
| Raise | To lift or move to a higher position or level. For instance, “please raise your hand if you know the answer!” |
| Tease | If you have made fun of or attempted to provoke (a person or animal) in a playful way, then you have teased them. |
| Use | To take, hold, or deploy (something) as a means of doing something. For instance: use a pen, use a chair, use a car. |
| Visit | To go to see and spend time with (someone or somewhere) socially. I’d like to visit Spain for my holiday this year. |
Transitive verb sentences
Let’s now use all 20 of the verbs above to make transitive verb sentences. To better remember the structures, I really recommend reading and saying them all out several times! Good luck! The first 5 transitives are in pink – see if you can identify all the others?
- I will ask the teacher for extra credit work.
- Tomorrow, I plan to bake some fresh muffins. Would you like some?
- Can you call the Italian restaurant to confirm our reservation?
- After such a long week, we should enjoy a slow brunch, don’t you agree?
- Could you fix my watch? It stopped ticking again!
- I can only guess that the package will arrive by Friday…fingers crossed!
- The store hires seasonal workers every summer. You might want to apply.
- Did you invite Rebecca to your book club meeting?
- We must join the two pieces together to finish this knitted jumper.
- Dave loves to kick the ball through the goal posts – even if he misses half the time!
- Sal loves to volunteer at the animal shelter.
- Can you help me move this table to the kitchen?
- They named their boat “Seas the Day.”
- I’ll order the tickets for the concert tonight. Hope they have some left!
- Please remember to pay the electric bill today.
- Our history teacher, Mr. Jones, often quotes famous philosophers.
- We raise the flag at our school to commemorate the national holiday.
- Tom gently teased his friend about being a terrible cook.
- We used video calls to communicate with each other while I was in Greece.
- I hope to visit the Great Wall of China someday.
Related: 20 Stative Verb Examples: How To Express Yourself!
Transitive verbs list
Here is the complete transitive verbs list for today, for your reference:
- Ask
- Bake
- Call
- Enjoy
- Fix
- Guess
- Hire
- Invite
- Join
- Kick
- Love
- Move
- Name
- Order
- Pay
- Quote
- Raise
- Tease
- Use
- Visit
20 examples of transitive verb: extra time!
So far today we have looked at 20 transitive verbs – for those of you wanting to study even more, here are another 20 examples of transitive verbs!
| Transitive Verb | Meaning | Example Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Admire | We use this if we regard someone with respect or warm approval | I admire Pierre’s dedication to learning languages. |
| Bring | To take something or someone to a place | Can you bring the documents to the meeting, Sandra? |
| Clean | If we make something free of dirt, marks, or mess, then we clean it. | My daughter cleans her room every weekend. |
| Design | To decide upon the look of something – to make a plan for how something will become. | Jacky designs websites for a living. |
| Explain | This transitive verb means to make something clear to someone by describing it in more detail | Please explain the instructions again, I couldn’t catch them all. |
| Forgive | To stop feeling angry or resentful toward someone for an offense or mistake | Becks forgives her friend for the misunderstanding. |
| Guide | If we show or indicate the way to someone, then we are guiding them. | The tour guide led us through the ancient Roman ruins. |
| Handle | To deal with an object using one’s hands. It also means that we “manage” some kind of situation. | Handle the vase carefully; it’s very valuable! |
| Introduce | To present (a person) to another so as to make them acquainted | Ophelia introduced her new colleague at the conference. |
| Judge | To form an opinion or conclusion about something or someone. | They will judge the English speech contestants today. |
| Knit | To make by intertwining yarn or thread in a series of connected loops using needles, as in “knitting”. | My grandmother taught me how to knit well! |
| Lend | This means to grant the use of something temporarily to someone | Could you lend me your pen for a moment? |
| Launch | It means to set something in motion, especially by pushing or thrusting force | The company plans to launch a brand new product line next quarter. |
| Offer | To present something for someone to accept or refuse – as desired | Danny offered Mary a cup of tea. She gladly accepted it. |
| Plant | To put a plant into the ground so it can grow | Every spring, we plant carrots and broccoli in our garden. |
| Question | To ask someone about something, especially to check its validity or accuracy | Mom questioned Paul about where he was last night. |
| Repair | This means to restore something damaged or broken to good condition | Can you repair my car’s air conditioning? It’s on the blink. |
| Send | This means to cause something to go or be taken to a place, especially by mail – we send letters and parcels. | Please send the package to my office by Friday morning. |
| Throw | To propel something with force through the air by a movement of the arm and hand | Jim threw the ball to his dog in the park. |
| Understand | To interpret or view something in a particular way | I understand your frustration with the slow progress. I’m sorry. |
Transitive verb examples: practice these to better your grammar
I hope you have enjoyed reading through today’s transitive verb examples! They are crucial to master because they are essential components of many sentences in English. Understanding how they function in a sentence can significantly improve your grammar for several reasons:
| The benefit of using transitive verbs | How it helps |
|---|---|
| Completion of Thought | Transitive verbs require a direct object to convey a complete thought. Practicing these verbs teaches you how to construct sentences that are complete and meaningful. |
| Syntax Awareness | By practicing transitive verbs, you become more aware of sentence structure, understanding the relationship between subjects, verbs, and objects. |
| Communication Clarity | Using transitive verbs correctly helps you communicate more clearly. Misuse can lead to confusion about what or whom the action of the sentence is affecting. |
| Enhanced Vocabulary | Learning transitive verbs naturally expands your vocabulary and allows for more precise and varied expression. |
| Better Writing Skills | Knowledge of transitive verbs improves your writing by helping you create more complex and nuanced sentences, which is essential for both academic writing and storytelling. |
| Reading Comprehension | Understanding transitive verbs can improve your ability to understand texts, as you can clearly determine the action being taken and the object of that action. |
| Passive Construction Understanding | Transitive verbs are used in passive constructions. Knowing them helps you understand and use the passive voice, which is common in formal writing. |
| Grammar Tests | Most standardized English tests assess your understanding of grammar, including the correct use of transitive verbs. |
Thanks for stopping by and practicing all these transitive verb examples with me today!