Learn Objects & Subject Complements with Examples

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Updated: Mar 17, 2025

Lesson

Imagine you say, "The cake is delicious" and "I ate the cake." In the first sentence, delicious describes the cake; in the second, the cake is receiving the action of being eaten. Today, we will learn what these parts of the sentence are called and how to identify them.

By the end of this lesson, you'll understand subjects, predicates, direct and indirect objects, and subject complements (like predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives). These terms may sound complicated, but we will break them down with simple explanations and examples. Learning these will help you to write clearer sentences and ace your quiz on objects and subject complements!

What Are Subjects and Predicates?

Every complete sentence has two main parts: a subject and a predicate.

Subject – The subject is who or what the sentence is about. It is usually a noun or pronoun.

For example, in "The baby is sleeping," the subject is "The baby" because the sentence is about the baby. The subject is the person, place, thing, or idea that performs the action or is being described.

Predicate – The predicate tells us what the subject is or does. It includes the verb and all the words that describe the action or state of the subject.

For example, in "The baby is sleeping," the predicate is "is sleeping", which tells us what the baby (subject) is doing. In "My parents are discussing their vacation plans," the predicate is "are discussing their vacation plans" – it contains the verb "are discussing" and explains the action the subject (my parents) is doing.

Why this matters: Understanding subjects and predicates helps us identify where objects and complements will be in a sentence. Generally, the subject comes first, and the predicate comes after. Within the predicate, we may find direct objects, indirect objects, or subject complements, depending on the verb.

What Are Direct Objects?

When the verb in the predicate is an action verb, it might have a direct object. A direct object (DO) is a noun or pronoun that receives the action of a verb. In other words, it answers the question "what?" or "whom?" after an action verb.

Examples:

"Lisa kicked the ball." – Ask "kicked what?" The answer is "the ball." Ball is the direct object because it receives the action of kicking.

"Samuel hugged his sister." – Ask "hugged whom?" The answer is "his sister." Sister is the direct object, receiving the action of hugging.

"Our cat caught a mouse." – Caught what? "A mouse." Mouse is the direct object (it's what was caught).

How to find a direct object:

Find the subject and verb of the sentence.
If the verb is an action verb, ask "Verb + what?" or "Verb + whom?" – the answer to that question is the direct object.
- Example: "She bought a book." – Bought what? Answer: a book. Book is the direct object.
Remember that a direct object is never inside a prepositional phrase.

What Are Indirect Objects?

Sometimes an action verb has two objects: one is the thing acted upon (direct object), and another is the person/thing to whom or for whom the action is done. This second type is called an indirect object (IO). An indirect object is usually a noun or pronoun that receives the direct object or benefits from the action. It answers the question "to whom/what?" or "for whom/what?" the action is done.

Examples:

"Mom gave me a cookie." – Me is the indirect object (it answers "to whom did Mom give a cookie?"). Cookie is the direct object (what Mom gave).

"The coach threw us the ball." – Us is the indirect object (to whom the ball was thrown), and the ball is the direct object (what was thrown).

"I will offer the nurses better pay." – Here, "the nurses" are receiving the thing being offered (better pay). Better pay is the direct object (what is being offered), and the nurses are the indirect object (to whom it is offered).

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Subject Complements

Linking Verbs and Subject Complements

Not all verbs show a clear action like run, throw, or give. Some verbs are linking verbs, which do not show action but rather connect the subject to more information. Common linking verbs include forms of "to be" (am, is, are, was, were, etc.), become, seem, and verbs related to the senses like look, feel, sound, taste, grow when they are used to describe a state rather than an action.

When a sentence has a linking verb, it will not have a direct object. Instead, it may have a subject complement. A subject complement is a word or phrase (usually a noun, pronoun, or adjective) that follows a linking verb and describes or renames the subject. The subject complement completes the meaning of the subject by giving us information about it. There are two common types of subject complements: predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives.

Predicate Nominative (PN): A noun or pronoun that renames the subject.

Predicate Adjective (PA): An adjective that describes the subject's quality, state, or condition.

Examples:

"Those envelopes are small." – Small is an adjective describing envelopes via linking verb are, making small a predicate adjective.

"Harry is a wizard." – Is (a form of "to be") is linking the subject Harry to a wizard. A wizard is a noun that renames Harry; this is a predicate nominative.