A recent headline from the Los Angeles Times, “Teens plotting attacks tend to tip their hand,” highlights a particularly difficult grammar problem. Do plural teens really share a singular hand? No.

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.

Did you know that since 1985 errant golf balls have killed eight people? “Sometimes death was sudden; sometimes it came after several days.” Most deaths come from strikes on the head, usually the ...

Subject, object, thing -- Everyday objects, useful objects -- Found objects, lost objects, non-objects -- Discursive objects, affective objects -- Event, object, performance Subject, Object, Thing -- ...