How to find the direct object in a sentence

Answer 1

In order to find the direct object of a sentence you can "ask the verb" what? or who? most of the time.

The person or thing that receives the action from the verb that the subject does is the direct object.

You will find a direct object only in sentences that have a transitive verb, aka action verb. For example:

1. Robert opened the door --> What did Robert open? He opened the door. "the door" is the direct object.
2. Robert called Karim --> Who did Robert call? He called Karim. "Karim" is the direct object.

Another rule you can use is to turn the active voice sentence into a passive voice sentence.

When you do that, the direct object from the active voice sentence will become the subject of the passive voice sentence. See the example below:

1. Robert opened the door --> The door was opened by Robert.
2. Robert called Karim --> Karim was called by Robert.

I recommend using a combination of both to double check your work.

However, these rules will not work with intransitive verbs. Intransitive verbs are linking verbs or verbs that do not act on anything or anybody. Their main purpose is to link information.

Some common linking verbs are BE, BECOME, GROW UP, SEEM, RAIN... Examples:

1. I am tired
2. I have been waiting for an hour
3. I am becoming assertive
4. I grew up in Spain
5. It rained all night