Direct Objects and Transitive Verbs
Earlier you learned that nouns can have different jobs or functions in a sentence. You have
studied two of these jobs already: A noun can be a subject or an object of a preposition. You
must remember, however, that a noun used as a subject is a basic part of a sentence pattern (like
SN V). But a noun that is used as an object of a preposition is not a basic part of a sentence
pattern.
You will now study how nouns function in different sentence patterns. The first English sentence
pattern, Pattern 1, has a SN+V for the basic sentence pattern. However, notice that when you
write SN V, you name the job of each basic sentence part as well, which is Subject Noun / Verb.
In the next pattern, Pattern 2, there are two nouns in this sentence pattern: SN V N. The first
noun is a subject noun and is still written as SN. The second noun will always come after the
verb (as its position in the pattern indicates) and is required to complete the meaning of the
sentence. This second noun is called a direct object and is written with the abbreviation DO.
Any time there is a direct object in a sentence pattern, the verb is transitive and must be used
with a direct object noun.
1. A direct object is a noun or pronoun after the verb that completes the meaning of the
sentence.
2. A direct object is labeled as DO.
3. To find the direct object, ask WHAT? or WHOM? after the verb.
4. A direct object must be verified to mean someone or something different from the subject
noun.
5. A verb-transitive is an action verb with a direct object after it. (Whatever receives the action
of a transitive verb is the direct object.)
Example Sentence for the exact words to say to find the direct object:
Jim bought a concert ticket.
1. Who bought a concert ticket? Jim - SN
2. What is being said about Jim? Jim bought - V
3. Jim bought what? ticket
4. Does ticket mean the same thing as Jim? No.
5. Ticket - DO (Say: Ticket - direct object)
6. Period, statement, declarative sentence
7. Bought - V-t (Say: Bought - verb-transitive)
8. What kind of ticket? Concert - Adj
9. A - Article
10. Check for prepositional phrases.
11. Period, statement, declarative sentence
12. Go back to the verb - divide the complete subject from the complete predicate (Jim / bought)
13. Is there an adverb exception? No.
14. Is this sentence in a natural or inverted order? Natural
DIRECT OBJECTS
Direct objects receive the action of the verb. In order to have a direct object. there must be an
"action" verb in the sentence. Although occasionally a prepositional phrase may serve as a direct
object, it occurs so seldom that you are still instructed to place parenthesis around prepositional
phrases and not label those as direct objects.
EXAMPLES OF DIRECT OBJECTS:
A. I kicked the desk. (What received the action? Desk)
B. I pulled Jane's hair. (What received the action? Hair)
C. I tossed the pencil. (What received the action? Pencil)
D. Sally hit the ball into left field. (What received the action? Ball)
Compound Direct Objects
A sentence may contain compound direct objects. This means that there are two or more direct
objects within a sentence.
Examples:
SN
V
DO DO
A. The toddler chased the dog and cat (around the house).
SN V DO
DO
DO
B. The artist drew birds, flowers, and butterflies (in the
painting).
Pronouns as Direct Objects
Personal Pronouns in the Objective Case:
The objective pronouns are: me, him, her, you, it, us, them, and whom.
Look at your pronoun chart reference page. There are only two pronouns that are in both the
objective and nominative columns: you and it. These are called neutral pronouns and do not
change forms.
OBJECTIVE PRONOUNS FUNCTION AS ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
A. Object of the Preposition
B. Direct Object
C. Indirect Object
A. Review of Object of the Preposition:
The object of the preposition is the noun or pronoun that follows a preposition.
OP
Examples: Stay (in your room).
OP
Go (with me).
B. Review of Direct Object:
A direct object receives the action of the verb.
DO
Examples: I dropped the eggs. (I dropped what?)
DO
The dog licked me.
(The dog licked whom?)
C. Review of Indirect Object:
The indirect object "indirectly" receives a direct object. "To" or "for" can be inserted mentally
before an indirect object.
Examples:
IO
DO
The baker / made Mother a pie. (a pie for whom?)
IO DO
Our grocer / gave her coupons. (coupons for whom?