English Grammar

Direct and indirect object examples

Direct object

An object is the part of a sentence that gives meaning to the subject’s action of the verb. For example: Alice caught the baseball. Subject=Alice Verb=caught Object=baseball Direct and indirect object examples

direct object answers the question of who(m) or what. In the sentence above, you could determine that ‘baseball’ is a direct object by asking the question: What did Alice catch? She caught the baseball. Baseball is the direct object.

In a sentence, the direct object (also called a direct complement ) is a syntactic element that indicates what receives the action directly. Although it is called a “ direct object ” it can be an object, a person, an animal, an institution, etc.

Sentences with a direct object are called transitive sentences.

How to identify the direct object?

To know what the direct object is in a sentence, the same sentence can be formulated but replacing the direct object with one of these pronouns : me, us, te, lo, los, la, las . This pronoun will be placed before the verb, or connecting it with the gerund . For example: I use the pencil . you use. I am using it .

Another way to identify the direct object is by asking the question question what? For example: I have a hat . That I have? A hat. (“A hat” is the direct object)

Indirect object

An indirect object answers the question of to whom, for whom, or for what.

For example, Max pitched Alice the baseball.

Max (subject) pitched (verb) the baseball (direct object) to whom? He pitched it to Alice. Alice is the indirect object.

The indirect object (also called indirect complement ) is a syntactic element that indicates the recipient of the action. It is indirect since it is introduced by a preposition that can be a or for .

The indirect object can be found in sentences with transitive verbs along with a direct object. In those cases it is the recipient of the action.

How to identify the indirect object?

To know what the indirect object is in a sentence, the same sentence can be formulated but replacing the indirect object with the pronoun le or les . These pronouns are also located before the verb or together with the infinitive or gerund. For example:  I wrote a letter for the institution . /  I wrote him a letter. I am writing you a letter.

Another way to identify the indirect object is by asking the question who? or for whom? For example: I wrote a letter for the institution . Who did I write the letter for? For the institution. (“For the institution” is the indirect object) Direct and indirect object examples

Sentences with direct object and indirect object

In the following list, the direct object is highlighted in bold and the indirect object underlined  .

  1. Summer brought heat to the city .
  2. The gifts included surprises for everyone .
  3. We buy sweets for children .
  4. I write a letter for my brother .
  5. Please bring the documents to the client .
  6. He gave the project five points .
  7. Write books for children .
  8. We thank all the collaborators for their help .
  9. I love that dress.
  10. I bring a gift for José.
  11. I’m going to bet twice on your horse .
  12. He wrote an essay for the exam .
  13. Hello, I come to give you back the gloves you lent me .
  14. Let’s book two tickets for Juan and Alberto .
  15. The rain changed the plans for the rest of the day .
  16. You never thanked him for his good advice.
  17. They describe the party to friends who couldn’t go .
  18. In his anger, he threw water from the glass to his face .
  19. He brought desserts for the guests .
  20. I bought the house for my children .
  21. He explained the facts to the jury .
  22. José does n’t like football .
  23. He told the children the truth .
  24. ¿ They offered coffee?
  25. We will send the report to the partners .
  26. He lent him his toys.
  27. He prepared an interesting presentation for the meeting .
  28. Bring water for the horses .
  29. He made a drawing for the teacher .
  30. We design the furniture for the living room .
  31. Finally we sold the painting to the Russian collector .
  32. I bought roses for grandma .
  33. He finished the work for his client .
  34. Explain the exercise to your classmates , please.
  35. Before sleeping, the father reads a story to the children .
  36. He sent invitations to all his relatives .
  37. I think he told them the truth .
  38. I give him a beer. Direct and Indirect Object with examples
  39. He gave all his illusions to this project .
  40. They sang two songs out of program for the public .
  41. The suspect confessed everything to the judge .
  42. They distributed mattresses to the flooded .
  43. I am teaching math to my sister .
  44. They awarded a prize to my university .
  45. Your mother told me you ‘re on vacation .
  46. Shows him his room the guest .
  47. I ‘m going to cook my favorite dish .
  48. I want to tell you my story .
  49. They modified the dress for me .
  50. A man showed me the way .

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