In grammar, transitive describes a verb that needs an object to complete its meaning. When you use a transitive verb, you're doing something to something or someone else.

Compare these sentences: “She kicked” feels incomplete, but “She kicked the ball” makes sense. Kicked is transitive because it requires an object (the ball) to express a complete thought. Other transitive verbs include write (you write something), eat (you eat something), and build (you build something).

Not all verbs are transitive. Some verbs, called intransitive, work perfectly well on their own: “He laughed” or “The sun rises” need nothing added. Some verbs can work both ways: you can read a book (transitive) or just read without specifying what (intransitive).

Understanding whether a verb is transitive helps you construct clear, complete sentences and catch sentence fragments that leave readers wondering what happened to whom.