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What is a Subject? What is an Object? 4733 Views


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Description:

The rules of grammar can be confusing, but not after watching this video. This video explains the difference between a subject and an object: one does the action and the other is the one that the action happens to. But which one does which? There’s a tip for remembering that in this video, too.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

What is a subject? What is an object? a la Shmoop.

00:08

The subject of this video is to teach you the difference between the subject of a sentence...

00:12

...and the object of a sentence.

00:15

Our apologies to sentences everywhere. We know how much they hate being objectified.

00:22

The rule is pretty straightforward...

00:23

...the subject of the sentence is the person who is doing something...

00:27

...and the object of the sentence is having something done to it.

00:32

Let's look at the sentence, "Linda punches Pete."

00:36

Linda is the subject here.

00:37

Who is she punching? Pete. Over and over and over again.

00:42

That means Pete is the object of this sentence. Here's another example...

00:46

..."Tom ate the pumpkin pie."

00:49

Tom is the subject of this sentence.

00:51

And what did Tom eat? Pie. Delicious pumpkin pie topped with Cool Whip.

00:56

Pie is the object of this sentence...

00:59

...and Tom is a far more fortunate individual than Pete.

01:03

If you need help remembering how subjects and objects work, just think of the sentence,

01:06

"I love you."

01:07

Not only does this sentence mean that "you" are the object of someone's affection...

01:12

...but, here, "you" is also the object of the sentence.

01:18

And now, if we know anything about how English teachers think, you're going to have the opportunity

01:21

to diagram the subjects and objects of sentences...

01:24

...over and over and over again.

01:26

But, hey, at least you're not Pete the punching bag.

01:29

Wonder what he did to deserve it...

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