Examples of direct object in a Sentence
“Me” in “He likes me” is a direct object.
In the sentence “They built a house for her,” the direct object is “house” and the indirect object is “her.”
Recent Examples on the Web
The moving hand embodies the subject, the movement is the action, and the other hand is the direct object.
—
Carl Zimmer, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
Meanwhile, a two-year-old child tested alongside Kanzi quickly intuits that two nouns can make up a noun phrase, tucked as a direct object into a verb phrase, which in turn is part of a sentence.
—The Economist, 22 Aug. 2019
Who is used for subjects, whom for objects, including direct objects such as that of the verb to fire.
—The Economist, 1 Mar. 2018
In Steve kicked John, Steve is the subject and John is the direct object.
—The Economist, 24 May 2018
Both distinguish between an animate direct object and an inanimate one.
—The Economist, 1 Feb. 2018
Four different cases in Old English tell you whether a word is a subject, direct object, indirect object or possessor.
—The Economist, 1 Mar. 2018
But putting a comma between a verb and its direct object is not a common mistake.
—The Economist, 21 Sep. 2017
See More
Carl Zimmer, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
Meanwhile, a two-year-old child tested alongside Kanzi quickly intuits that two nouns can make up a noun phrase, tucked as a direct object into a verb phrase, which in turn is part of a sentence.
—The Economist, 22 Aug. 2019
Who is used for subjects, whom for objects, including direct objects such as that of the verb to fire.
—The Economist, 1 Mar. 2018
In Steve kicked John, Steve is the subject and John is the direct object.
—The Economist, 24 May 2018
Both distinguish between an animate direct object and an inanimate one.
—The Economist, 1 Feb. 2018
Four different cases in Old English tell you whether a word is a subject, direct object, indirect object or possessor.
—The Economist, 1 Mar. 2018
But putting a comma between a verb and its direct object is not a common mistake.
—The Economist, 21 Sep. 2017
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'direct object.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1879, in the meaning defined above
Articles Related to direct object
Dictionary Entries Near direct object
Cite this Entry
“Direct object.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/direct%20object. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023.
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Kids Definition
direct object
noun
: a grammatical object that is the main goal or the result of the action of a verb
"me" in "he called me" and "house" in "we built a house" are direct objects
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