Objective vs. subjective: what's the real difference?

The short answer

Objective describes something based on verifiable facts, not on anyone's personal feelings. Subjective describes something shaped by opinion, taste, or individual experience. A thermometer reading of 90 degrees is objective; saying the day feels unbearably hot is subjective. The two words describe opposite sources of information: one comes from measurable evidence, the other from a personal point of view.

• Objective: based on facts anyone can verify
• Subjective: based on personal opinion or feeling

What objective means

An objective statement can be checked and confirmed by different people using the same evidence. The report is objective because it lists sales figures without adding any opinion about whether they are good or bad. Scientists aim to write objectively, describing what they observed rather than how they felt about it. News reporting that sticks strictly to verified events is also described as objective, since it avoids the writer's personal judgment.

What subjective means

A subjective statement reflects a personal viewpoint that can change from person to person. Her subjective review said the movie was boring, even though the box office numbers were objective. Subjective judgments are common and useful in daily life, especially for taste, comfort, and preference, but they cannot be proven true or false the way objective facts can. Two people can disagree subjectively without either one being wrong.

Correct examples in a sentence

The judge based her ruling on objective evidence, not on how sympathetic the defendant seemed (not: the judge based her ruling on subjective evidence). I think the soup needs more salt, which is a subjective opinion, not an objective fact (not: which is an objective opinion). The survey collected objective data about attendance, separate from subjective comments about enjoyment.

Objective and subjective in everyday writing

Job performance reviews try to stay objective by citing measurable results, such as sales totals or missed deadlines, rather than a manager's general impression of someone's attitude. A restaurant review, on the other hand, is naturally subjective, since taste, mood, and personal expectations all shape what one diner enjoys and another does not. Recognizing which mode a piece of writing is using helps readers judge how much weight to give a claim, and it helps writers decide when they need actual evidence instead of just a strong opinion.

Students are often asked to separate objective and subjective language in essays, especially in science and history classes. An objective summary reports what happened, what a source said, or what data showed, without inserting the writer's reaction. A subjective response, by contrast, is exactly where personal reaction belongs, such as in a reflection paragraph about how an event affected the writer. Mixing the two without labeling them clearly is a common source of confusion in student writing.

Remember it

Link object to objective: an object exists outside of you, so objective facts exist outside of your personal feelings too. Link subject to subjective: the subject is the person experiencing something, so a subjective view belongs to that one person. Whenever you can check a claim with evidence, it is objective; whenever the claim depends on who is speaking, it is subjective.