200 Verbs for Early Learners

Here’s how the different types of transitivity are defined:

• Transitive verbs are followed by direct objects.  Those objects may or may not be preceded by ‘to’ or ‘for’, or they may be Content Clauses.  These verbs do not work without direct objects.  For example, we can say, “I received a letter,” but we can’t say simply “I received.”
• Intransitive verbs are not followed by direct objects.  For example, we can say, “She smiled,” but we can’t say “She smiled her mouth,” or anything like that.
• Ambitransitive verbs work whether they are followed by direct objects or not.  Some have a slightly different meaning depending on whether they are used transitively or intransitively, while others have the same meaning either way.  Many ambitransitive verbs have direct objects that might just be unstated when used intransitively.  For example, while it is grammatically correct to say, “They answered,” it is assumed that the direct object is ‘the question’, or whatever makes sense for the context.

Most verbs have variable transitivity depending on their precise definition, so this element of verbs can be a lot more complex than we show here.  For the sake of simplicity and easier comprehension, we list each verb as transitive, intransitive, or ambitransitive based on how early English speakers are most likely to use or encounter these verbs.