Subject and object

For grown-ups: this lesson in words

Year 6 · English

Subject and object: I can find the subject and the object of a sentence, and choose between I and me.

1. Here is a sentence: Mei kicked the ball.

   The verb is kicked. Who did the kicking? Mei did.

   Mei is the subject: who or what does the verb.

   Picture: The sentence "Mei kicked the ball.", with "Mei" labelled subject and "kicked" labelled verb.

2. Mei is the subject, kicked is the verb. What did Mei kick?

   The ball! "The ball" is the object: who or what the verb is done to.

   The object comes after the verb. Subject, verb, object.

   Picture: The sentence "Mei kicked the ball.", with "Mei" labelled subject, "kicked" labelled verb and "ball" labelled object and "the" and "ball" underlined.

3. Your turn: Tom baked a cake. Which part is the subject?

   Picture: The sentence "Tom baked a cake."

   Choose one:

   • baked
   • Tom
   • a cake

   Answer

   The answer: Tom

   Tom did the baking, so Tom is the subject.

   Picture: The sentence "Tom baked a cake.", with "Tom" labelled subject and "baked" labelled verb.

Words to know

verb:

The doing or being word in a sentence, like kicked or is.

subject:

Who or what does the verb. It usually comes before the verb.

object:

Who or what the verb is done to. It comes after the verb.