SUBJECT AND

DIRECT OBJECT
Prepared by Jade Andro S. Padullon
SUBJECT
Refers to the person, place, idea, and things that the sentence is about
(NMD, N.D).

According to Finegan 2008, subject is defined as the NP (Noun Phrase) that

is dominated by the S (Sentence).
Example:

He can take care of her.

The dog ate the meat

 HOW TO IDENTIFY THE SUBJECT IN A
SENTENCE
According to Nordquist 2019, to identify the subject in a sentence one can
turn the sentence into a question answerable by yes or no by reversing the
subject to the verb that follows .

Example:

He can take care of her.

Can he take care of her?
The dog ate the meat.
Did the dog eat the meat?
DIRECT OBJECT
Defined as a word or phrase that receives the action of the verb
(Grammarly, N.D)

According to Finegan 2008, it is the NP (Noun Phrase) that is

immediately dominated by the VP (Verb Phrase).

Example:

He can take care of her.

The dog ate the meat.

HOW TO IDENTIFY THE DIRECT OBJECT IN
A SENTENCE
To identify the direct object one should ask the question what or whom
(English Club, N.D).
Example:

He can take care of her.

Who did he take care of?
The dog ate the meat.
What did the dog eat?
 DIRECT OBJECT AND INTRANSITIVE
AND TRANSITIVE VERB
Only a sentence with transitive verbs in a sentence can have a direct
object (Finegan 2008).

Intransitive Transitive

Josh won. Josh won a prize.

Taylor sings. Taylor sings lullabies.
 REFERENCES
English Club (N.D). Direct Object. Retrieved August 30,2023 from
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/sentence/direct-object.php.
Finegan, E. (2008). Language: Its Structure and Use (5th Ed.). Thomson Wadsworth. 25 Thomson Place.
MA, USA. Retrieved on August 30, 2023.
GMN (N.D). Sentence Analysis: Subject, Predicate, Direct Object, and Indirect Object. Retrieved August
30,2023 from https://theglobalmontessorinetwork.org/resource/elementary/indirect-object- english/.
Grammarly (N.D). Direct Objects in English With Examples. Retrieved August 30, 2023 from
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/direct-object/#:~:text=What%20is%20a%20direct%20object,the
%20direct%20object%20example%20above.
Norquist, R. (2019). Subject in English Grammar. Retrieved from
https://www.thoughtco.com/subject-grammar 1692150#:~:text=In%20English%20grammar%2C%20the
%20subject,It%20.%20%20.%22).