Direct Object + Indirect ObjectOr

Indirect Object + Direct Object

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Anybody who has spent very much time learning English knows that there aren't too many rules without an exception.

So, when you've come this far and think you understand the rule, it's natural to ask yourself: are there exceptions?

And the answer is:

"yes."

First, it's possible to move the indirect object to after the direct object, using a preposition like "to" or "for."

Using the same order all the time can get repetitive or boring to the reader.

One reason we do this is to make our language more interesting.

Some examples of moving the indirect object:

(The indirect object is blue, the direct object is green, and the preposition is red)

I gave my mom my keys.==> I gave my keys to my mom.

Susanne knit her boyfriend a sweater.==> Susanne knit a sweater for her boyfriend.

We made my brother a present. ==> We made a present for my brother.

I sent Lucille to the doctor for professional advice.

If you didn't grow up speaking English, you may have a problem with sentence order when you speak English.

In German, for example, it's possible to move the words around in a sentence.

In English, however, about all the variety you could get out of that sentence would be to maybe move the time to the front: "Yesterday, I ate an apple" instead of "I ate an apple yesterday."

So, a good place to start is looking at the different roles that are played in a sentence.

That's because the order of words in an English sentence tells us what their job is in that sentence.

So we'll start going over the sentence parts in English. That will help you speak and write better.

In the meantime, you can start preparing yourself:

Do you know what a subject is? An object? It may surprise you, but they're quite important!

The subject tells us who or what is doing the action.

In the sentence "I ate an apple" the subject is I.

In the sentence "Johnny kicked the ball," the subject is Johnny. Johnny does the kicking.

Direct objects

Most of the verbs examined so far have been in the Active Voice. When a verb is in the Active Voice, the subject of the verb refers to the person or thing performing the action described by the verb; and the object of the verb refers to the person or thing receiving the action described by the verb.

In the following examples, the objects of the verbs are printed in bold type.

He read the book.

I did not see the balloon.

They ate the potatoes quickly.

She rode her bicycle along the sidewalk.

Do we understand it?

In these sentences, the verbs read, did see, ate, rode and do understand are in the Active Voice; and the words book, balloon, potatoes, bicycle and it are the objects of the verbs. These objects are said to be direct objects, because they refer to things which receive directly the actions described by the verbs.

The direct object tells us who or what the action is done to.

In the "I ate an apple" example, the direct object is the apple, because it is the thing affected by the action.

In "I kicked the ball," the ball is the direct object, since the ball was affected by the action.

Direct Object Quiz

1. I watched the birds.

2. He did not close the window. 3. She rang the bell.

4. Did you find the answer?

5. I opened the door.

birds

window

bell

answer

door

Check Answers

6. Did she play the violin? 7. You will need an umbrella.

8. They are not carrying the parcels. 9. You organized the race.

10. Were they using the blankets?

Check Answers

violin

umbrella

parcels

race

blankets

Indirect objectsThe indirect object tells us to whom or to what. It lets us know the DIRECTION of the action.

Remember the example "I kicked the ball"?

In that sentence, we don’t know where the ball went after I kicked it. But, if I say "I kicked my brother the ball," then we know that the ball went to my brother. And my brother is the indirect object.

Most sentences with giving or speaking of some kind will have an indirect object (for example, "He told me his name").

We gave the child a toy.

I sent the man the information.

In these examples, the words child and man are said to be the indirect objects of the verbs gave and sent. Indirect objects refer to things which receive indirectly the actions described by the verbs. In the above examples, the words toy and information are the direct objects of the verbs.

Indirect objects usually refer to living things.

In the following sentences the subject is red, the indirect object is bold, and the direct object is underlined.I told him a joke. (subject = I, indirect object = him, direct object = a joke)

My father gave me a bicycle.(subject = my father, indirect object = me, direct object = a bicycle)

Susan sent Bob letters.(subject = Susan, indirect object = Bob, direct object = letters)

You loaned them money.(subject = you, indirect object = them, direct object = money)

She made us sandwiches.(subject = she, indirect object = us, direct object = sandwiches)

It is possible for a sentence containing an indirect object to be rewritten by placing a preposition before the indirect object. When this is done, the original indirect object can be regarded either as the indirect object of the verb, or as the object of the preposition.

For example, the sentence We gave the child a toy, can be rewritten as follows:

We gave a toy to the child.

In the rewritten sentence, child can be regarded either as the indirect object of the verb gave, or as the object of the preposition to.

The following examples illustrate the position of the indirect object in a sentence. The direct object, toy, is printed in bold type, and the indirect object, child, is underlined.

We gave the child a toy.

We gave a toy to the child.

When an indirect object is not preceded by a preposition, the indirect object must be placed before the direct object. Thus, in the sentence We gave the child a toy, the indirect object child is placed before the direct object toy.

However, when an indirect object is preceded by a preposition, the indirect object must be placed after the direct object. In the sentence We gave a toy to the child, the indirect object child is preceded by the preposition to. Therefore, the indirect object, child is placed after the direct object toy.

The object which is placed last in a sentence tends to receive greater emphasis than the object which is placed first. Thus, the word order of a sentence can be varied in order to give greater emphasis to one object or the other.

For instance, in the sentence We lent the teacher a book, the direct object book is slightly emphasized.

However, in the sentence We lent a book to the teacher, the indirect object teacher is emphasized.

Indirect Objects QuizFill in all the gaps, then press "Check Answers" to check your answers.

She gave an apple TO the boy.

She gave the boy an apple.

1. I handed the book TO the student. I handed .

2. He wrote a letter TO the twins. He wrote .

3. She made a scarf FOR the girl. .4. I told the story TO the audience. I told .

Check Answers

1. I handed the student the book.2. He wrote the twins a letter.3. She made the girl a scarf.4. I told the audience the story.

5. We paid the money TO the dentist. We paid .

6. He sent a reply TO the doctor. He sent .

7. We offered the job TO the students. We offered .

Check Answers

5. We paid the dentist the money.6. He sent the doctor a reply.7. We offered the students a job.

Practice: In the following sentences, identify the subject, direct object, indirect object and verb.

1. "I sent him a letter."

Subject:

Indirect Object:

Direct Object:

Verb:

Check Answers

Subject: I

Indirect Object: him

Direct Object: a letter

Verb: sent

2. "John tells me a story."

Subject:

Indirect Object:

Direct Object:

Verb:

3. "The school pays me money."

Subject:

Indirect Object:

Direct Object:

Verb:

Check Answers

Subject: The school

Indirect Object: me

Direct Object: money

Verb: pays

Subject: John

Indirect Object: me

Direct Object: a story

Verb: tells

4. "The pizza guy brought us the wrong pizza."

Subject:

Indirect Object:

Direct Object:

Verb:

5. "The girl asked her father a question."

Subject:

Indirect Object:

Direct Object:

Verb:

Check Answers

Subject: the girl

Indirect Object: her father

Direct Object: a question

Verb: asked

Subject: the pizza guy

Indirect Object: us

Direct Object: the wrong pizza

Verb: brought