Object

What is an Object?

An object is a word or group of words in a sentence that receives the action of a verb. Nouns, pronouns, gerunds, and phrases can all be objects. There are two types of objects: direct objects and indirect objects.

Direct object

The direct object is the object that is being acted upon by the verb in a sentence.

• Example: I threw the ball.
• Example: Apollo Creed punched Rocky.

The direct object does not always need to come after the verb in a sentence. This is often the case when a sentence is written in passive voice.

• Example: The ball was thrown by me.
• Example: Rocky was punched by Apollo Creed.

An easy way to identify the direct object is to ask a question about who or what received the action of a sentence.

• What did I throw? I threw the ball.
• Who did Apollo Creed punch? Apollo Creed punched Rocky.

Indirect object

The indirect object is a secondary object that is being acted upon by a verb in a sentence. A sentence must have a direct object in order to have an indirect object.

• Example: I gave the apple to Julie.
• Example: I gave Julie the apple.

The indirect object does not always need to come after the verb in a sentence. This is often the case when a sentence is written in passive voice.

• Example: Julie was given the apple by me.

An easy way to identify the indirect object is to determine the direct object and then ask a question about “to whom” or “to what.”

• Example: What did I give? I gave the apple. (Direct object)
• Example: To whom did I give the apple? I gave the apple to Julie. (Indirect object)