Transitive and Intransitive Verbs Worksheet 2024-25

Transitive and intransitive verbs are essential parts of English grammar. Transitive verbs need a direct object to complete their meaning. Intransitive verbs express a complete thought without an object. Students looking for grammar practice will benefit from worksheets on these verbs. They include clear examples, systematic exercises, and explanations of sentence structure.

The Difference Between Transitive and Intransitive Verbs with Examples

The main difference between these verbs is simple. One needs an object, and one doesn’t. This is key to understanding sentence structure.

Transitive Verbs: Words That Need Objects

A transitive verb needs someone or something to receive its action. This receiver is called the direct object. Object recognition in sentences is an important skill.

How to identify transitive verbs in sentences: Just ask “what?” or “whom?” after the verb.

For example: “She reads a book.”

• Ask: “She reads what?”
• Answer: “a book”
• So “reads” is a transitive verb, and “book” is the direct object.

Here’s a list of common transitive verbs with sentence examples:

• Carry: She carries a bag.
• Build: They built a house.
• Write: The boy wrote a letter.
• Teach: She teaches math.
• Buy: We bought groceries.

These are among the top 10 examples of transitive verbs used daily. For more examples of transitive verbs, visit InfinityLearn.

Common Transitive Verbs

Transitive Verb	Example Sentence	Direct Object
bring	Please bring your textbook.	textbook
build	They built a treehouse.	treehouse
carry	She carries her backpack.	backpack
eat	The dog ate its food.	food
find	I found my lost pencil.	pencil
make	Mom made a cake.	cake
read	He reads comic books.	comic books
see	We saw a movie.	movie
use	They use computers.	computers
write	I write stories.	stories

Intransitive Verbs: Words That Work Alone

An intransitive verb doesn’t need a direct object. The action is complete by itself. When looking at what happens when an object is missing in a sentence, you’ll often find an intransitive verb.

For example: “The baby sleeps soundly.”

• “Sleeps” is the action.
• There’s no direct object receiving the action.
• “Soundly” just tells us how the baby sleeps.

Here’s a list of common intransitive verbs used in daily conversations:

• Sleep: The children slept.
• Arrive: The bus arrived.
• Laugh: Everyone laughed.
• Run: She runs every day.
• Fall: The leaves fell.

Intransitive verb examples with adverbs or prepositional phrases often work with:

• Adverbs: She walked slowly. (using prepositional phrases with intransitive verbs)
• Time words: He arrived at noon.
• Places: The flower grew in the garden.

Common Intransitive Verbs

Intransitive Verb	Example Sentence	Note
appear	The rabbit appeared suddenly.	No direct object
arrive	The train arrived late.	No direct object
fall	The leaves fall in autumn.	No direct object
go	We go to school daily.	No direct object
happen	The accident happened yesterday.	No direct object
laugh	The children laughed loudly.	No direct object
run	She runs every morning.	No direct object
sit	He sat on the chair.	No direct object
sleep	The baby sleeps peacefully.	No direct object
swim	They swim in the lake.	No direct object

Ambitransitive Verbs: Verbs That Can Be Both

Can a verb be both transitive and intransitive? Yes! Some verbs can be both transitive and intransitive. These special verbs, known as ambitransitive verbs examples, change how they work depending on the sentence.

For example, the verb “open”:

• Transitive: “He opened the door.” (Door is the direct object)
• Intransitive: “The door opened.” (No direct object)

Understanding these verbs helps with grammar analysis: when does a verb become transitive? It depends on whether there’s a direct object or not.

Verbs That Can Be Both Transitive and Intransitive

Verb	Transitive Example	Intransitive Example
begin	She began her homework.	The movie began at 7 pm.
break	He broke the glass.	The glass broke easily.
cook	Mom cooks dinner.	Dad cooks very well.
drive	I drive a blue car.	She drives carefully.
eat	The boy eats an apple.	We eat at 6 pm.
grow	Farmers grow vegetables.	Children grow quickly.
play	She plays the piano.	The children play in the park.
read	He reads books.	She reads before bedtime.
start	I started my project.	The race starts soon.
stop	The policeman stopped the car.	The train stopped suddenly.

Grammar Rules for Transitive and Intransitive Verbs Explained

Here’s a simple chart for verb classification:

Verb Type	What It Means	Example	Verb	Direct Object
Transitive	Needs an object	The cat chased the mouse.	chased	the mouse
Intransitive	Works alone	The baby sleeps.	sleeps	(none)
Can be both (Transitive use)	Depends on sentence	She opened the door.	opened	the door
Can be both (Intransitive use)	Depends on sentence	The door opened.	opened	(none)

This chart shows the basic grammar rules for transitive and intransitive verbs explained simply.

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs Worksheet

Let’s practice with these free printable worksheets for transitive and intransitive verbs! These verb exercises and English grammar exercises will help you master these concepts.

Exercise 1: Verb Identification Techniques – Spot the Difference

For each sentence, tell if the bold verb is transitive (T) or intransitive (I). This helps with how to identify transitive and intransitive verbs in sentences.

1. The dog barked loudly. (___)
2. She wrote a letter to her friend. (___)
3. The sun shines brightly. (___)
4. He kicked the ball across the field. (___)
5. They arrived late. (___)
6. We watched a movie last night. (___)
7. The baby cried for her mother. (___)
8. He built a sandcastle on the beach. (___)
9. The train stopped suddenly. (___)
10. She drank a glass of water. (___)
11. The children played outside all afternoon. (___)
12. My mother cooked dinner for us. (___)
13. He ran quickly down the street. (___)
14. They painted the walls blue. (___)
15. The old man sat under the tree. (___)

Exercise 2: Direct Object Identification – Find the Object

For each sentence in Exercise 1 with a transitive verb, write down the direct object. If the verb is intransitive, write “none.” This helps with object recognition in sentences.

1. Object: (______________)
2. Object: (______________)
3. Object: (______________)
4. Object: (______________)
5. Object: (______________)
6. Object: (______________)
7. Object: (______________)
8. Object: (______________)
9. Object: (______________)
10. Object: (______________)
11. Object: (______________)
12. Object: (______________)
13. Object: (______________)
14. Object: (______________)
15. Object: (______________)

Exercise 3: Fill-in-the-blank Exercises on Transitive Verbs

Fill in each blank with a transitive verb from this list. This is a great fill-in-the-blank exercise on transitive and intransitive verbs.

Word Box: wrote, designed, carries, know, bought, find, likes, baked, gave, watch, repaired

1. She ______________ a beautiful dress for the party.
2. He ______________ the answer to the hard question.
3. The mailman ______________ the letters to the houses.
4. They ______________ a new car last week.
5. I ______________ all of her songs.
6. We ______________ a yummy cake for dessert.
7. The teacher ______________ the students extra homework.
8. Can you ______________ your keys?
9. My friend ______________ his broken bicycle.
10. Did you ______________ the game last night?

Exercise 4: Interactive Activities for Learning Intransitive Verbs

Fill in each blank with an intransitive verb from this list. These are examples of intransitive verbs in context.

Word Box: laughed, slept, shines, cried, arrived, ran, sat, walked, appeared, waited

1. The stars ______________ brightly in the night sky.
2. The baby ______________ all night.
3. They ______________ at the funny joke.
4. He ______________ to the bus stop.
5. She ______________ for the train.
6. The guests ______________ at the party on time.
7. The cat ______________ on the soft rug.
8. He ______________ quickly to catch up with his friends.
9. Suddenly, an idea ______________ in her mind.
10. We ______________ peacefully until morning.

English Vocabulary

3 Letter Words	Action Words	Opposite Words
4 Letter Words	Compound Words	Positive Words
New Words	Daily Used English Words	Praising Words
6 Letter Words	Describing Words	Rhyming Words
7 Letter Words	Difficult Words	Synonyms Words

Exercise 5: Sentence Transformation Worksheets for Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

Rewrite this sentence, changing the bold verb from transitive to intransitive. This is a sentence rewriting activity that helps you understand how transitive verbs affect sentence meaning.

She sang a beautiful song.

Your new sentence: ______________________________

For more interactive activities for learning transitive and intransitive verbs, visit InfinityLearn. They offer the best resources for understanding transitive and intransitive verbs.

Check Your Answers: Transitive vs. Intransitive Verb Exercises with Answers

Exercise 1: Spot the Difference

1. The dog barked loudly. (I)
2. She wrote a letter to her friend. (T)
3. The sun shines brightly. (I)
4. He kicked the ball across the field. (T)
5. They arrived late. (I)
6. We watched a movie last night. (T)
7. The baby cried for her mother. (I)
8. He built a sandcastle on the beach. (T)
9. The train stopped suddenly. (I)
10. She drank a glass of water. (T)
11. The children played outside all afternoon. (I)
12. My mother cooked dinner for us. (T)
13. He ran quickly down the street. (I)
14. They painted the walls blue. (T)
15. The old man sat under the tree. (I)

Exercise 2: Find the Object

1. none
2. a letter
3. none
4. the ball
5. none
6. a movie
7. none
8. a sandcastle
9. none
10. a glass of water
11. none
12. dinner
13. none
14. the walls
15. none

Exercise 3: Fill in the Blanks with Transitive Verbs

1. She designed a beautiful dress for the party.
2. He knew the answer to the hard question.
3. The mailman carries the letters to the houses.
4. They bought a new car last week.
5. I like all of her songs.
6. We baked a yummy cake for dessert.
7. The teacher gave the students extra homework.
8. Can you find your keys?
9. My friend repaired his broken bicycle.
10. Did you watch the game last night?

Exercise 4: Fill in the Blanks with Intransitive Verbs

1. The stars shine brightly in the night sky.
2. The baby slept all night.
3. They laughed at the funny joke.
4. He walked to the bus stop.
5. She waited for the train.
6. The guests arrived at the party on time.
7. The cat sat on the soft rug.
8. He ran quickly to catch up with his friends.
9. Suddenly, an idea appeared in her mind.
10. We slept peacefully until morning.

Exercise 5: Change the Sentence

Original: She sang a beautiful song. (Transitive) New sentence: She sang beautifully. (Intransitive)

This shows how passive voice transformation works with these verbs.

Real-world Applications of Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

Knowing about transitive and intransitive verbs helps you:

1. Write better sentences
2. Say what you mean clearly
3. Fix mistakes in your writing
4. Get better at English
5. Understand complex sentence structures with transitive verbs

This step-by-step guide to transitive and intransitive verbs is part of what teachers use when teaching transitive and intransitive verbs in English grammar.

For more student grammar resources, check out InfinityLearn. There you’ll find writing prompts for verbs and grammar practice worksheets.

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