transitive

CEFRB2

/ˈtɹænzɪtɪv/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Describing a verb that takes a direct object.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Affected by transference of signification.

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."

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
4

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Taking a direct object or objects.

  2. Making a transit or passage.

  3. Having the property that if an element a is related to b and b is related to c, then a is necessarily related to c.

More examples

In context

  • The English verb "to notice" is a transitive verb, because we say things like "She noticed a problem".

  • "Is an ancestor of" is a transitive relation: if Alice is an ancestor of Bob, and Bob is an ancestor of Carol, then Alice is an ancestor of Carol.

  • 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.

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

In the sentence 'She reads a book,' the verb is blank because it needs an object.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Latin trānsitīvus, from trānsitus, from trāns (“across”) + itus, from eō (“to go”).