A transitive action verb must which of the following?

• A. Never has a direct object
• B. Can be either
• C. Expresses state of being
• D. Must have a direct object

Answer: (D)

Transitive action verbs transfer their action to a direct object—the thing that receives the action. When you say “She kicks the ball,” the action is directed at “the ball,” which completes the thought. Without a direct object, as in “She kicks,” the sentence can feel incomplete because there’s nowhere for the action to go. So, for a verb to be classified as transitive, it must have a direct object to receive the action. Verbs that express a state of being don’t fit here, and while some verbs can be used with or without objects in different sentences, the defining trait of a transitive action verb is that it takes a direct object.