Confused about direct and indirect objects? Direct objects answer “who/what?” about an action verb. On the other hand, indirect objects tell to or for whom or what the action was done.
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What Is a Direct Object?
Direct objects are nouns or pronouns that appear after a transitive action verb. A direct object can also be a phrase or clause. The sentence structure with a direct object can be as simple as three words: subject, verb, and direct object.
Direct Object Sentence Examples
In the following examples, the direct objects are italicized, while the subjects and verbs are in bold.
Examples of direct objects:
- Sam plays tennis.
- Max patiently built a sand castle throughout the day.
- Joanna tried to solve the problem. (infinitive phrase as DO)
- Jack answered her rudely.
- We hoped that everything would turn out okay. (noun clause as DO)
How Do You Identify the Direct Object?
As mentioned earlier, a direct object is most often a noun or pronoun, but (as the examples show) that it can also be a clause or phrase. Direct objects can also be compound.
Example sentence:
- We bought cookies, pasta, and milk at the grocery store.
You can identify a direct object in a sentence by finding the subject and verb. After verifying that you have an action verb and “who or what” about the subject and verb. The answer to that is the direct object.
Note: A direct object must be somewhere after the action verb and cannot be in a prepositional phrase. We’ll come back to this later.
What Is an Indirect Object?
On the other hand, an indirect object is a noun, pronoun, or noun clause telling to/for whom or what an action was performed (recipient of an action). As pronouns, indirect objects are in the objective form (me, you, him/her, us, them).
The indirect object is between the action verb and direct object.
Tip: A sentence can have a direct object without an indirect object, but it can’t be the other way around.
How Do You Identify the Indirect Object?
To find an indirect object, look for the action verb and a direct object. If there’s an indirect object, it will be between the two of them. It will also answer the quesiton “To or for whom or what?” about the verb. Like a direct object, an indirect object cannot be in a prepositional phrase.
Indirect Object Sentence Examples
In our examples, subjects, and verbs are again in bold, and direct objects are again italicized. The indirect objects are underlined.
Examples of indirect objects:
- My parents gave me a lecture.
- She finally paid her brother what she owed him.
- Did you give what I proposed some thought?
What Are the Similarities Between Direct and Indirect Objects?
Direct and indirect objects are similar in that they can be nouns, pronouns, and noun phrases. They’re also related to actions and help express them fully.
In addition, they can be compound, and can appear in different places. For instance, “We’re hosting a party and will be asking you to bring a dessert.”
What Are the Differences Between Direct and Indirect Objects?
The key difference between direct and indirect objects is how they relate to the action. The former directly receives that action, and the latter is affected by it.
Here’s another example:
She threw her husband a surprise party.She threw a party (not her husband!), making the party the direct object. Since the party was for the husband, he’s the indirect object.
Here’s also a comparison table that might help:
| Part of Speech | Location | Needs the Other? | |
| Direct Object | Noun, pronoun, phrase or clause | After the action verb | No |
| Indirect Object | Noun, pronoun, noun clause | Between the action verb and direct object | Yes |
Common Mistakes With Direct and Indirect Objects
One common mistake with direct and indirect objects is confusing them with objects of prepositions. The following sentence has no indirect object:
He threw a ball to his brother.Yes, the ball is a direct object, but the brother is not an indirect object here. He would be if we wrote, “He threw his brother a ball.”
You can avoid this by remembering that an indirect object is always between the verb and direct object. Also remember that neither object can be in a prepositional phrase.
Another common error is mistaking a predicate nominative for a direct object. In “The winner was her sister,” we have a linking verb, not an action verb. This makes the sister a predicate nominative, an identifier found after a linking verb.
Final Thoughts
Direct and indirect objects are similar in being related to the same action verb. However, the latter answers the “what?” about the verb while the former answers, “To or for whom/what?” Remember that they can’t be in prepositional phrases; this is a common mistake!
