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)
