object: the nominal element (in a clause or sometimes a verb) that refers to a participant of secondary prominence ranking (after the subject) in the action of the verb. Often (but not always) it is the participant which suffers or receives the action performed by the subject. For instance in the sentence "I saw you yesterday", the subject is the first person singular (I), and the object is the second person (you). Stems, verbs, and clauses which have or require an object are transitive; those which do not are intransitive.

In some languages, such as English and Spanish, it is necessary to distinguish between "direct" and "indirect" objects, but in many other languages that distinction seems to be less useful, and a distinction between primary and secondary objects may be more appropriate.

Adpositions also take objects; for instance, in the phrase "on the ground", the object of "on" is "the ground". [Spanish: objeto]