The direct object is an element in a sentence that provides information that completes the idea introduced by certain verbs. We can say that it receives the action of the verb or that it is the thing acted upon by the verb. Let’s say a person says simply, “I brought.” The likely confused response from the listener would be: “You brought?? You brought what?“ The confusion comes from the fact that the verb “bring” requires a direct object.
Perhaps the best way to understand the functioning of a direct object is just to look at some sentences that have direct objects. The direct object in each of the following sentences is shown in bold print.
The dog is chasing its tail.
I brought the donuts.
She understood what he was trying to say.
I left my umbrella at the restaurant.
He kissed her in front of everyone.
She painted the sky before she painted the mountains.
Elvis left the building while the fans still filled the auditorium.
I believe that he’s telling the truth.
You can see from the above examples that the direct object does not have to be just one word, and you can see that it often follows directly after a verb in a clause. You can also see that the direct object functions as a noun.
In English, the grammatical slot of the direct object does not have to be filled by a simple, ordinary noun like ”the donuts” or a noun phrase or clause like “what he was trying to say.” The direct object position can often be filled by a verb in either the gerund or infinitive form; that is a verb that is functioning as a noun. Therefore, in the following examples, the gerund “dancing” and the infinitive “to quit” fill the slot for the direct object.
| I enjoy dancing. [GERUND] | [What do you enjoy?– Dancing.] |
| I’m planning to quit. [INFINITIVE] | [What are you planning?– To quit.] |
For further discussion, please see OBJECT.