Transitive Meaning
/ˈtɹænzɪtɪv/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjMaking a transit or passage.
adjAffected by transference of signification.
Sentence Examples
The relationship "A loves B" is not reflexive, transitive, or symmetric.
"Escuchar" is a transitive verb in Spanish, unlike its English equivalent "listen to."
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the sentence 'She reads a book,' the verb is ____ because it needs an object.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In grammar, a ____ verb is a type of verb that requires a direct object to complete its meaning in a sentence today.
Word Origin & History
From Latin trānsitīvus, from trānsitus, from trāns (“across”) + itus, from eō (“to go”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"For all symbols are fluxional; all language is vehicular and transitive, and is good, as ferries and horses are, for conveyance, not as farms and houses are, for homestead."
— 1841-1843, Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Poet:
"By far the greater part of the transitive or derivative applications of words depend on casual and unaccountable caprices of the feelings or the fancy."
— 1843, John Stuart Mill, A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive:
"Men have tried to turn "revolutionise" from a transitive to an intransitive verb."
— 1908, G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy:
"This means that subcategorization properties do not allow us to distinguish between transitives and intransitives (both types of verbs are allowed, but not obliged, to take a direct object)."
— 2011, Carmen Dobrovie-Sorin, The Syntax of Romanian: Comparative Studies in Romance, page 136:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the sentence 'She reads a book,' the verb is ____ because it needs an object.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In grammar, a ____ verb is a type of verb that requires a direct object to complete its meaning in a sentence today.