She ate the gum.

Larry kicked a soccer ball.

Gum is the direct object since it is the thing being eaten. Ball is the thing being kicked.

There are also Objects of Prepositions that are often are confused with direct objects. The object of a preposition is the noun (or pronoun) that follows a preposition. Prepositional phrases are underlined, objects of prepositions are highlighted in red:

I pushed the cat behind the chair.

Mark found his shoe under my bed.

Chair is in a prepositional phrase, "behind the chair" (See prepositions webpage). So "chair" is the object of the preposition. The direct object is cat -  it is what is getting the action of the verb -  the cat is what is pushed.

More examples are (direct objects are in green, object of prepositions are in red)

Lee Anne took the book on the hook.

I threw money in the trash.

Sammy stole the money from his classmate.

To keep going, click the duckling.

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