Main Difference – Subject vs. Object
A sentence is a set of words that conveys a complete thought and subject, verb and object are the three main components of a sentence. The subject refers to the person or the thing that is doing or being something. The object is the receiver of action in a sentence. This can be described as the main difference between subject and object.
What is a Subject
The subject is one of the most important components of a sentence. The subject of a sentence refers to the person or thing doing the action or being described. For example,
Nina went to school.
Nina is very pretty.
In both sentences, Nina is the subject of the main verb. However, in the first sentence, Nina is doing the action and in the second sentence, Nina is being described.
Subjects can be further categorized as simple subject, complete subject, and compound subject. When the subject of a sentence is simply a pronoun or a noun without any modifiers, we call it a simple subject.
He went to Australia to compete in an IQ quizz.
Marie bought a new black dress.
The complete subject includes the simple subject and all its modifiers. A complete subject is always a noun phrase or a noun clause.
That pretty little girl is a friend of my daughter.
The new candidate is very intelligent.
A compound subject is made up of two elements. That means it can include two simple subjects or two compound subjects or one of both.
Neil and James fought with each other.
The new girl and the tall girl from the back row fought with each other.
You can identify the subject of a sentence by asking questions using the question words who or what. For instance,
Sentence: The man who killed his wife got a life sentence.
Question: Who got a life sentence?
Answer: The man who killed his wife – subject (complete subject)
Sentence: Daily News is the most popular newspaper in our town.
Question: What is the most popular newspaper in our town?
Answer: Daily News – Subject
What is an Object
Object is the receiver of action in a sentence. An object can be a noun, pronoun, or a noun phrase that is governed by the verb and the subject. There can be two main types of objects in a sentence: direct object and indirect object.
The direct object is the noun, pronoun or noun phrase that receives the action or shows the result of the action.
King Sha Jhan built Taj Mahal.
He kicked the ball.
He pushed her out of the door.
If you can identify the subject and the verb in a sentence, then you can easily find the direct object by using the question verb what or whom.
He kicked the ball – What did he kick?
He pushed her out of the door. – Whom did he push out of the door?
An indirect object is the recipient of the direct object. You can find the indirect object by identifying the direct object and then asking the question who or what received it.
He posted a letter to her.
Please give me your address.
In the above sentence, letter and address act as the direct objects and the underlined words act as the indirect objects.
It is important to remember that when you are using pronouns as the objects of a sentence, the pronouns must be written in the objective case. Given below is the list of subject pronouns and their relevant subject pronouns.
|
Subjective Pronoun |
Objective Pronoun |
|
I |
me |
|
you |
you |
|
he |
him |
|
she |
her |
|
it |
it |
|
we |
us |
|
they |
them |
|
who |
whom |
|
whoever |
whomever |
Difference Between Subject and Object
Meaning
The subject is the person or thing doing the action.
The object is the person or thing receiving the action.
Order
Subject generally precedes the verb.
Object generally follows the verb.
Question Words
Subject can be identified by using the question words what or who.
Object can be identified by using the question words what or whom.
Classification
Subject can be classified as simple and complete subjects.
Object can be classified as direct and indirect object.
Verb
Subject agrees with the verb.
Object does not agree with the verb.
