The complement of a transitive verb is either a direct object or an object of preposition which is necessary for the sentence to make sense.

The direct object can be a pronoun, noun (phrase), or noun clause that shows who or what receives the action of the verb. Here are some examples:

Objects of prepositions are those that need a preposition to connect to the verb, but still receive the action of the verb. The verb is called an indirect transitive and the object is called oblique in such cases. For example:

Not everything that appears after a verb makes it transitive. Complements must be distinguished from adjuncts, which add extra information to the sentence, but are not essential to its structure and meaning, as opposed to complements which are essential components of the sentence. Adverbs and prepositional phrases are common adjuncts that might cause confusion in identifying transitive verbs.

Adverbs are commonly used in sentences to provide more information about where, when, or how something happened. These adjuncts can be removed from the sentence without causing any significant change in its meaning. Here are some examples:

Like adverbs, prepositional phrases provide additional information about the time, place, or manner of an action, but are not essential for the sentence to make sense. Do not confuse these with objects of preposition which are essential for the verb to express a complete meaning. Compare the examples:

One of the most common criteria for identifying a transitive verbs is to test if it can be made passive. But this test is not always reliable. In general, transitive verbs can be categorized into three groups based on how they undergo passivization:

This is the most natural case of passives with transitive verbs. The direct object becomes the subject of the passive verb. For example:

Naturally, this is how indirect transitive verbs undergo passivization. The object of preposition becomes the subject of the passive voice. The preposition typically stays stranded after the verb. Here are some examples:

Some verbs are transitive and do have a direct object, but cannot be made passive. This typically happens with stative verbs and symmetric verbs which show a reciprocal relation between the subject and the object. It's also possible if the subject does not have an agentive role. Look at the examples below:

Some verbs can be used both transitively and intransitively without significant change in meaning. Such verbs can be categorized into two groups:

Ambitransitive verbs can be both transitive and intransitive without significant change in meaning or structure. The difference between the two forms is that the transitive usage provides more information by specifying who or what is receiving the action of the verb.

Ergative verbs can be transitive or intransitive as well, but they are different from ambitransitive verbs in that the object of the transitive form and the subject of the intransitive form are the same.