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Glite Dictionary
doubly transitive verb

doubly transitive verb

9.3
A verb that takes two objects, one showing who receives something and one showing what is received
  • noun
  • /ˈdaʊbli ˈtrænzɪtɪv vɜrb/
  • Specialized
translation icon : verbo doblemente transitivo
  • In the sentence 'She gave him a book', 'gave' is a doubly transitive verb.

Examples

  • 'Send' is often used as a doubly transitive verb, as in 'She sent me a letter'.

  • In the phrase 'He handed her the keys', 'handed' functions as a doubly transitive verb.

  • The teacher explained that a doubly transitive verb can have two objects in a sentence.

  • A doubly transitive verb requires two objects.

  • Can you give me a doubly transitive verb example?

  • An example of a doubly transitive verb is 'She told him a story.'

  • The doubly transitive verb 'showed' can be illustrated in the sentence 'They showed us the artwork.'

How Transitive

doubly transitive verb
  • Specialized
9.3
transitive verb
  • Specialized
6.0
intransitive verb
  • Specialized
7.5

Surface Forms

doubly transitive verb singular
doubly transitive verbs plural

Morphology

doubly + transitive + verb

The phrase is fully compositional: 'doubly' (= twice) modifies 'transitive' (= takes an object) applied to 'verb', so the natural inference is 'a verb that takes two objects' (direct + indirect). Although grammatical jargon, the construction transparently conveys this meaning and parallels cross‑linguistic terms (e.g. 'ditransitive'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should be able to derive it.

Etymology

Doubly transitive verb paints a simple picture: the verb 'moves' something to someone, so it has a direct object, the 'thing', and an indirect object, the 'person'. That's why verbs like 'give' or 'send' are called doubly transitive verbs — they take 'two objects' in one sentence.