Are you doing something?

Or is something being done to you?

This is the starting point for deciding the subject or object of a sentence.

Subject

This is the person doing the action. The subject usually comes before the verb in a sentence:

Adam swims.

Jane writes.

Lucy works.

The subjects in these sentences are Adam, Jane and Lucy. They are doing the action (verb): to swim, to write, to work.

Object

This is the person, place or thing that is impacted by or involved in the action:

Adam swims at the local swimming pool.

Jane writes in her diary every evening.

Lucy works at the supermarket.

The objects in these sentences are the local swimming pool, Jane's diary and the supermarket.

Let's identify the subject and object in each of the following sentences:

Ben plays hockey on Tuesdays. subject: Ben object: hockey

Helen does her homework every evening. subject: Helen object: homework

Melanie orders pizza every Friday evening. subject: Melanie object: pizza

Liam visits his grandparents once a month. subject: Liam object: his grandparents

If you are not sure how to identify the object, try asking a 'what' question about the subject:

Colin ate ice-cream on holiday.

What did Colin eat? - ice-cream. This tells us that 'ice-cream' is the object.

Emma is a teacher.

What is Emma? - a teacher. This tells us that 'a teacher' is the object.

Olive drives her car to work every day.

What does Olive drive? - her car. This tells us that 'her car' is the object.

Richard invented a robotic dog.

What did Richard invent? - a robotic dog. This tells us that 'a robotic dog' is the object.

Test your knowledge of subjects and objects with this quick quiz.

What is the subject and object in each of the following sentences:

Adam walks his dog in the park every morning.

Betty calls her parents every weekend.

My parents drink a glass of wine every evening.

We went to the zoo last month.

You bought me a lovely present for my birthday.