DIRECT AND INDIRECT OBJECTS

Direct objects can be found in the predicate of a sentence. They show who or what receives
theaction of the verb. To find a direct object, first find the subject and the verb; then ask
yourself who or what receives the action of the verb? The answer to the "who" or "what"
question is thedirect object.
EXAMPLE:

The boy hit the ball with the bat.

Where is the action in this sentence? The verb is hit
.Second, find the subject by asking who or what did the action. Who hit the ball?
The Boy hit the ball;
Boy is the subject.Then, to find the direct object, ask yourself who or what Received the action
of the verb.Ask, hit what? The ball received the action of being hit.
EXAMPLE:

Hurricanes frequently pound the Florida coastline.

Find the subject and the verb. The subject is hurricanes
And pound is the verb. Now ask who or what received the action of pounding. Ask pound
what? The coastline received the action; it is the direct object. Two or more direct objects can
form a compound direct object.

EXAMPLE:

Joshua moved the table and chairs closer to the window.

What did Joshua move? He moved both the table and chairs, a compound direct object.

PRACTICE EXERCISE 1:
Underline the direct object in each of the following sentences. Remember that some may be
compound.
1. Karen gave a dog biscuit to the puppy.
2. The ATM machine spewed money at the surprised young woman.
3. The librarian carried the books and magazines to the researcher.
4. The children selected fallen leaves for show-and-tell.
5. Sparta defeated the enemy in the war.
6. The company hired a manager.
7. The child needs a speech therapist to help her improve her voice.
8. The people of China gave pandas to the people of the United States.
9. Gary decorated the cake as a surprise for his family.
10. Jean bought a television for the family room

INDIRECT OBJECTS
Indirect objects are also found in the predicate and answer the question "to whom" or "for
whom." To identify an indirect object, first find the direct object and ask "to whom" or "for
whom" the direct object is intended.
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EXAMPLE:

The employees gave David a party to celebrate his promotion.

What is the direct object? What was given? The direct object is party; it receives the action of
the verb gave.
Now, ask yourself "to whom" or "for whom" the party was given. The indirect object is
David; the party was given for David. Some helpful hints:
1. An indirect object cannot exist without a direct object. The indirect object must receive something
from the direct object.
2. Indirect objects usually are placed in front of a direct object.

EXAMPLE:
Jessica bought her mother a new car
Notice the word order of the sentence: mother is the indirect object and comes before the
direct object car.
We could take out the indirect object and the sentence would make sense, but we cannot take
out the direct object. Jessica bought a new car
.Jessica bought her mother.

PRACTICE EXERCISE 2:
Circle the direct object in the sentence. Underline the indirect object.
1. Please buy me a soda, too.
2. The father bought the child an ice cream cone.
3. The doctor gave his patients elastic bands for exercise.
4. Jeremy gave his son a CD player and a stereo as a birthday gift.
5. Carlotta brought her son a set of toy soldiers.
6. The reporters asked the mayor and the council many questions.
7. The real estate agent sold my sister a colonial style mansion.
8. The spa offered Maria and Antonio a full membership.
9. The company will give you a refund.
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Grammar Study GuideComplements

Direct Object: A direct object will follow atransitive verb. Direct objects can be
nouns,pronouns,phrases, orclauses.
Identify thesubjectandverbin asentence to find the direct object (because the direct
object often answers the
what? Or Who?
Question).
In former times, before Robert could remember, “the house” had been
a summer luxury of the Lebruns.
Indirect Object: An indirect object precedes the direct object and tells to whom or for
whom the action of the verb is done and who is receiving the direct object. There
must be a direct object to have an indirect object. Indirect objects are usually found
with verbs of giving or communicating like give, bring, tell, show, take, or offer. An
indirect object is always a
noun or pronoun which is not part of a prepositional phrase.
Answers To what? Or To whom?
Mr. Pontellier gave his wife half of the money which he had brought away from
Klein’s hotel the evening before.
Predicate Nominative: The predicate nominative is the noun following a linking verb
that restates or stands for the subject. Typically, a predicate nominative has the
same value or grammatical weight as the subject. (
Noun)
By the end of the tournament, Tiger Woods was the
leader
.
Predicate Adjective:
A predicate adjective is an adjective that is used to predicate an attribute of the subject. (It is
an adjective that is linked to a noun that clarifies a noun’s attribute).(
Adjective)
Madame Ratignolle was very fond of Mrs.Pontellier, and often she took her sewing and
went over to sit with her in the afternoons.
Object of preposition:
A preposition is a word that shows a relation between a noun and pronoun to
another word in the sentence. The object of the preposition is the noun or
pronoun that comes after the preposition.
Tammy left her shoes beside (preposition) the pool (object of preposition)
Phrases
Participle: A participle phrase consists of a participle (A participle is a verbal that
isused as an adjective and most often ends in –ing or –ed ) and its accompanying
words. The whole phrase will modify a noun or pronoun. The accompanying words
can be: prepositional phrase(s), adverbs, and a direct object.
He did not say this, but she understood it, and laughed, nodding good-by to him.

Gerund: A gerund is a verbal that ends in –ing and functions as a noun. (They can
be subject, direct object, subject complement, and object of preposition.)
Musical strains, well rendered had a way of evoking pictures in her mind.
Infinitive: An infinitive is a verbal consisting of the word to plus a verb (in its simplest
"stem" form) and functioning as a noun, adjective, or adverb. An infinitive is easy to
locate because of the to + verb form. The phrase functions as the actor(s), direct object(s),
indirect object(s), or complement(s).
Mr. Pontellier, unable to read his newspaper with any degree of comfort, arose with
an expression and an exclamation of disgust.
Appositive: An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that renames another noun right
beside it.
She felt as if a mist had been lifted from her eyes, enabling her to look upon
and comprehend the significance of life, that monster made up of beauty and
brutality.
Prepositional: At the minimum, a prepositional phrase will begin with a
preposition and end with a noun, pronoun, gerund, or clause, the "object" of the
preposition.
“About what we need” About = preposition; what we need = noun clause.
Parts of Speech: Verb

Usually ends in –ing or –ed

The part of speech that expresses existence, action, or occurrence in most
languages.
Once in a while he withdrew his glance from the newspaper and looked about him
Noun
The part of speech that is used to name a person, place, or thing.
Mr. Pontellier wore eye-glasses.
Adjective
The part of speech that modifies a noun or other substantive by limiting,qualifying,
or specifying
Mrs. Pontellier talked about her father’s Mississippi plantation
Adverb
The part of speech that modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb.
The gulf looked far away, melting hazily into the horizon
Preposition
A part of speech that indicates the relationship, often spatial, of one word to another.
For example, “She paused at the gate”; “This tomato is ripe for picking”; and “They
talked the matter over head to head.” Some common prepositions are at, by , for , from, in
, into, on, to, and, with
.Consider the professor's desk and all the prepositional phrases we can use while
talking about it. You can sit before the desk (or in front of the desk). The
professor can sit on the desk (when he's being informal) or behind the desk, and
then his feet are under the desk or beneath the desk. He can stand beside the
desk (meaning next to the desk), before the desk, between the desk and you, or
even on the desk (if he's really strange). If he's clumsy, he can bump into the desk
or try to walk through the desk (and stuff would fall off the desk). Passing
hishands over the desk or resting his elbows upon the desk, he often looks across
the desk and speaks of the desk or concerning the desk as if there were nothing
else like the desk. Because he thinks of nothing except the desk, sometimes you
wonder about the desk, what's in the desk, what he paid for the desk, and if he
could live without the desk. You can walk toward the desk, to the desk,
around the desk, by the desk, and even past the desk while he sits at the desk
or leans against the desk.

Pronoun
The part of speech that takes the place of a noun

Interjection
The part of speech that usually expresses emotion and is capable of standing alone.

Conjunction
Any member of a small class of words distinguished by their function as connectors between
words, phrases, clauses, or sentences,
as and, because, but, however.