What does a sentence mean ?

Sentence formation 

A sentence is made up of a subject and a predicate.

The Subject

The subject is the person or thing the sentence is 'about'. Often (but not always) it will be the first part of the sentence. The subject will usually be a noun phrase (a noun and the words, such as adjectives, that modify it) followed by a verb.

Finding the Subject

Once you determine the verb, ask a wh...? question of the verb. This will locate the subject(s).

For eg; My dad works hard. 

'works' is the verb. Now ask who 'works hard'? The answer is 'my dad' which is the subject here. 

Burgers and Pepsi are my favourite. 

'Are' is the verb ( auxilliary verb). Ask the question What 'are your favourite'? The answer is 'burgers and Pepsi' which are the subjects here.( please note that there are two subjects here!)

The subject (s) of a sentence will answer the question 'who' or 'what'?

The Predicate

Once you have identified the subject, the remainder of the sentence tells us what the subject does or did. This part of the sentence is the predicate of the sentence.

The predicate always includes the verb and the words which come after the verb. For eg;

My dad works hard.

Burgers and Pepsi are my favourite. 

The Object

Some verbs have an object (always a noun or pronoun). The object is the person or thing affected by the action described in the verb.

What are they?

An object often follows the subject and verb in a sentence. By definition, an object is a noun or pronoun that gives meaning to the subject and the verb in a sentence. There are two types of objects: direct and indirect.

Direct objects

Direct objects are nouns, pronouns, clauses and phrases. You can identify the direct object by using this simple formula: subject + verb + who? or what? = DIRECT OBJECT.

It is important to note that only action verbs can have direct objects. 

 Try using this formula to determine the direct object as you consider the following example:

Example 1: Atul saw a snake in the garden.

Saw is the verb. 

('who' saw ?) Atul saw. Therefore, Atul is the subject.  

Next ask the question 'what' did the subject Atul see? .... ' a snake'. Therefore, the direct object is 'a snake'.

Example 2: My sister had two eggs for breakfast.

'Had' is the verb. 

('who had') ? My sister had. Therefore, 'My sister' is the subject.

Next ask the question 'what' did the subject sister have ?... 'two eggs', which is the direct object. 

Indirect objects  

Indirect objects are nouns or pronouns that identify to whom or for whom the action of the 

verb is performed, as well as who is receiving the direct object.. In order to have an indirect 

object, there is a direct object.

Example 1: Sam sent his mom a postcard from Italy. 

“Sam” is the subject, and “sent” is the verb. Ask the question “sent what?” “A postcard” is the direct object. To determine the indirect object, ask who received the direct object. “His mom” is the Indirect object.

Example 2: Ritesh paints the house for his family.

“Ritesh” is the subject, and “paints” is the verb. Ask the question “paints what?” “The house” is the direct object. To determine the indirect object, ask for whom did the subject do the action? “For his family” is the indirect object.

Sometimes an indirect object comes before the direct object. Consider the following example:

Example 3: Siddharth gave me his algebra notes.

“Siddharth” is the subject, and “gave” is the verb.

 Ask the question “gave what?” “Algebra notes” is the direct object. 

To determine the indirect object, ask for whom did the subject do the action? “Me” is the indirect object, and it came before the direct object in this sentence.

How to find the Indirect object

Before you can find the Indirect object, you have to find the Direct object. You can find the Direct object by finding the verb and asking 'What'?. Once that is done, ask 'who' or 'what' received it ? For Eg;

She gave the beggar a gold coin.

Step 1. Find the verb = gave

Step 2. Ask gave what ? = a gold coin ( this is the Direct object)

Step 3. Ask 'who' or 'what' received it ? = the beggar ( therefore, the Indirect object is the beggar.

Once you find the Direct object, you have to ask 'who' or 'what' received it to get the Indirect object.

Some more examples;

1. We told the teacher a lie.

We = subject, told = verb, told what ? = a lie ( Direct object).

Who got the lie ? The teacher ( Indirect object)

2. He built his son a house by the beach.

He = subject, built = verb, he built what ? = a house ( Direct object). Who got the house ? His son ( Indirect object).

I hope this lesson on Direct and Indirect Objects was easy to follow. Try to pick out the same from the examples above . Good luck !!

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