Direct and Indirect Objects

Subject and Object
The subject and object are two parts of a sentence that indicate who or what is performing an action and who or what is receiving the action

Subject is the person or thing that performs the action and Object is the person or thing that receives the action. Objects come after the verb (and any words or phrases that modify the verb). So the pattern of the sentence is is Subject + Verb + Object.

There are two types of objects in English grammar - Direct and Indirect Object

Direct Objects

The example above is an example of a direct object. A direct object is the receiver of the action within a sentence and it answers the question "who?" or "what?".

1) John marked the homework
(What did John mark? = the homework)

2) Alice hit Susan
(Who did Alice hit? = Susan)

So in the first case, the action (the verb) is the marking and it is the homework that is receiving this action i.e. it is being marked. In the second case, the receiver of the action - the hitting (verb) - is Susan, so Susan is the direct object.

Indirect Objects

In order to have an indirect object in a sentence, there must be a direct object.

The indirect object is the recipient of the direct object. Or in other words, it identifies to or for whom or what the action of the verb is performed.

The direct object and indirect object will be different people, places or things.

Subject + Verb + indirect Object + direct object

1)John bought his son a present
(For whom did John buy a present? = his son)

2)The office staff gave Phillip a card
(To whom did the staff give a card? = Philliip)

So in the first case, the son is the recipient of the direct object (the present). So the action - buying the present - is being performed for him. In the second case the recipient is Phillip, who is the recipient of the card (direct object).
 
Examples of Direct and Indirect Objects
Here are some example sentences. All the direct objects are in bold. Where an indirect object is included in the second set of examples, the indirect object is in italics.

Sentences with Direct Objects

  • Steve turned on the TV
  • The car hit the pedestrian
  • Billy stroked the hamster
  • Sheila spoke to her neighbour
  • Mike started the argument

Sentences with Indirect and Indirect Objects

  • John passed Tim the book
  • Let her take it
  • Anne gave Ian a strange look
  • My brother bought me a bike
  • The mother read her child a story
Practice Exercise 
 
Q1)Circle the Direct Objects and underline the Indirect Objects in the following sentences.
  1. The woman offered the beggar a piece of bread.
  2. Ravi’s grandfather told him an interesting story.
  3. The Principal promised the boy a scholarship.
  4. The teacher gave the class a project work.
  5. Did the shopkeeper offer the man any discount?
  6. Ashok sold me his bike.
  7. The doctor gave the patient prescription.
  8. Tia sent her friend a surprise gift.
  9. Rajni will help you in your household work.
  10. Where did you put the glasses?
  11. He gave him a bag full of rice.
  12. Anu wrote a book on ‘Poverty’.
  13. He offered her a chocolate.
Q2) Circle the Direct Objects and underline the Indirect Objects in the following sentences.
  1. Jiya told me an incident.
  2. My mother gifted me a cycle.
  3. Mr Ravi lent me his car.
  4. The Principal awarded him a gold medal.
  5. Our teacher gave us some work to do.
  6. We sent a gift packet to our relative in Delhi.
  7. Tina is making lunch for her friends.
  8. Tia sent her friend a surprise gift.
  9. My grandfather is buying us a car.
  10. Jia paid the bill for us.
  11. I bought him a toy car.
  12. Dia sent me a message.
  13. My mom made a nice dress for me.