Monday, the 31st of January
Theme: Subject, Predicate, Object.
What
is a predicate?
In
traditional grammar, a sentence consists of two parts:
§
and a predicate which states something
about the subject
Consider the following
sentence:
§ Bill likes soccer.
What is an object?
An object in grammar is a
part of a sentence, and often part of the predicate. It
refers to someone or something involved in the subject's
"performance" of the verb. It is what the verb is being done to. As
an example, the following sentence is given:
|
Subject |
Verb |
Object |
|
Leila |
wrote |
the poem |
§
"Leila"
is the subject, the doer or performer,
§
"wrote"
is a verb that refers to the action,
§
"the
poem" is the object involved in the action.
Direct object
A direct object answers the question "what?"
or "who?"
Examples:
§ David repaired his
car → his car is the direct
object of the verb repaired. (
What did David repair?)
§ He invited Mary to
the party → Mary is the direct
object of the verb invited. (Who
did he invite?)
Indirect
Object
An indirect object answers the question "to
whom?", "for whom?"
An indirect object is the recipient of the direct
object, or an otherwise affected participant in the event. There must be a
direct object for an indirect object to be placed in a sentence. In other words
an indirect object cannot exist without a direct object.
Examples:
§ They sent him a postcard - him is
the indirect object of the verb sent. (To whom did
they send a postcard?)
§ He bought his son a bike - his
son is the indirect object of the
verb bought. (For whom did he buy a
bike?)
