Really, a subject is the one that needs a verb to say something. But a subject, of course, or actually, has more to say. For example,
Sara eats.
Sara plays.
In the both sentences above, Sara can eat something, or she can, of course, play something. For example,
Sara eats |apples|.
Sara plays |football|.
Now, the sentences are complete in their true sense. So that something is called an object. Now take a few more examples,
Sara went late.
Sara looks happy.
Sara sits inside.
If you look for late, happy, inside in the dictionary, it will tell you these words are not nouns. They are adjectives and adverbs. Of course, these words have been placed where that something has been placed in previous examples. But these are not objects of the verbs.
Remember that not every verb takes an object. Objects are always arranged after verbs. Identifying the object in what you are going to say is important, otherwise it may create problems. If you want to utter something, it may be either you want to perform an action or you want to express a state of being. In either case you must have an agent (subject) that may perform action, or a word (verb) that can express your action, or a third one which may be an object or not. It is clear from the preceding examples about whether the third one is an object or not.
From the second examples, it is clear that an adjective or an adverb cannot be an object. So a noun or a noun phrase or a pronoun can be an object.
Sara slaps |Rahul|.
Sara slaps |him|.
Sara breaks |my computer table|.
Now there may be possible that the verb does not content itself with a single object. It may need another object to make its sense clear. Take an example,
Sara gives him.
The above sentence does not make sense about what Sara gives him. If we add something like apple, or orange here, the sentence starts to make sense.
Sara gives |him| |an apple|.
So a sentence sometimes needs two objects to make sense. In the above sentence, the apple receives the action of the verb. Ask yourself what is given, and the answer is the direct object. Here, apple is the direct object. The noun or pronoun that gets affected directly by the action of the verb is the direct object. Now think who receives the apple. Obviously it is him. So him here is an indirect object.
In a nutshell, we can say that a direct object receives the action of the verb, and an indirect object receives the direct object itself. Take more examples
You teach him a lesson. (What is taught? A lesson (DO); who receives the lesson? Him.(InD))
She brought him a flower. (What is brought? A flower (DO); who receives the flower? Him.(InD))
We tell the children a story. (What is told? A story (DO); who receives the story? Children.(InD))
My friends ask me a favour. (What is asked? A favour (DO); who receives the favour? Me.(InD))
Aman wrote her a letter. (What is written? A letter (DO); who receives the letter? Her.(InD))
These objects are called objects of verbs because there is nothing between an object and a verb. But think of a situation about a man living in a glass house. We would probably utter
He lives in a glass house.
Here, a glass house is a noun phrase. This is an object of a preposition because the noun phrase is supplemented with a preposition. Sometimes we have to use prepositions before a noun or noun phrase as the need is required. Take some more examples
We went to |the nightclub|.
He stayed at |home| last night.
Sara takes |dinner| before |Sam|.
On |the occasion of her birthday|, he plays |a beautiful tune| on |guitar|.
In the above sentences, nightclub, home, Sam, the occasion of her birthday and guitar are objects of the prepositions to, at, before, on, respectively. Object of a preposition doesn’t necessarily take an action verb. They can be a part of any sentence.
He is at |home|.
Sara is late for |work|.
He fell in |love| at |first sight|.
Not only noun, pronoun, or noun phrase can be used as objects, we can also use a sentence as an object. This falls under clause. We will deal with it in detail separately.
Can you tell |me| |what your favourite drinks are|?
I will be ready to help for |when they need me|.
We should always say |thanks| to |whoever helps us in need|.
So objects are also an important ingredient for making a sentence. We have to be more cautious before using pronouns as objects. Pronouns are governed by case. An understanding of the case of the pronouns is inevitable if you want to use pronouns as objects correctly. This is not a part of this campaign. It will be dealt separately.
No comments:
Post a Comment