When to Use Transitivity?

A verb can be described as transitive or intransitive based on whether it requires an object to express a complete thought or not. A transitive verb is one that only makes sense if it exerts its action on an object. An intransitive verb will make sense without one. Some verbs may be used both ways.

How do you use transitivity?

In linguistics, transitivity is a property of verbs that relates to whether a verb can take objects and how many such objects a verb can take.
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Formal analysis
  1. He kissed her hand—transitive verb.
  2. She injured him—transitive verb.
  3. What did you throw? —transitive verb.

What is an example of transitivity?

For example, when told to put away his books according to height, the child recognizes that he starts with placing the tallest one on one end of the bookshelf and the shortest one ends up at the other end.

Sarah Jenkins

Sarah Jenkins

Senior Technology Editor & AI Specialist

Sarah Jenkins is a veteran tech journalist with over 12 years of experience covering artificial intelligence, mobile innovations, and digital ethics. Her insights have appeared in leading technology publications worldwide.