Ajay plays the big, black grand piano. Teagan watches television. Some verbs do not need an object to make sense. These either: Work alone, as in, ‘Connor screamed.’ Describes a ‘state’ as in, ‘Maire ...

Talk to most people about grammar and you’re likely to hear a lot about little issues that are, essentially, language trivia — matters like when to use “whom,” how to use “between” and whether you can ...

Like the subject, the object is usually a noun (‘the piano’) or a noun phrase, (‘the big, black grand piano’). Verbs that take objects describe some kind of action rather than a state of being.

When a sentence uses a transitive verb to describe an action, it’s necessary for the subject to take a direct object and to act on it: “The woman spurned her suitor last week.” “Her suitor found a ...