TSA Writing Skills Assessment Practice Test

The correct answer is transitive because a transitive verb is defined as one that requires a direct object to complete its meaning. In the sentence "The baseball player signed the autographs," the verb "signed" is transitive because it is directly acting on "the autographs," which is the direct object that receives the action of the verb. Without the direct object, the meaning of the verb would be incomplete; we would be left wondering what was signed. In this case, the action of signing is not happening in isolation but rather in relation to the autographs that the baseball player is signing. This relationship clearly illustrates the function of the transitive verb. Understanding the role of direct objects in connection to transitive verbs helps clarify the action being described in a sentence.