Direct and Indirect Objects

• Verbs are action words.
• Action verbs can have direct and indirect objects that expand the verb's meaning.

Direct Objects

• Receives the action of a verb.
• Answers the questions "who?" or "what?".
• Example: "The ball player throws the ball." The direct object of the verb "throws" is "ball".
• Action verbs must be present in sentences containing direct objects.

Indirect Objects

• Receives the action of the direct object.
• Answers the questions "to whom?", "for whom?", "to what?" or "for what?".
• Example: "The ball player throws Keith the ball." The indirect object of the verb "throws" is "Keith".
• Action verbs must be present in sentences containing indirect objects.

Direct vs. Indirect Objects

• Direct objects are immediately affected by the verb.
• Indirect objects are affected by the direct object.
• Example: "Samantha tossed her mom a towel."
• The direct object is "towel" as it receives the action of the verb "tossed".
• The indirect object is "mom" as she receives the towel.
• An indirect object requires a direct object to be present in the sentence.

Types of Verbs

• Only action verbs can have direct and indirect objects.
• Linking verbs connect the subject with a subject complement so will not have direct/indirect objects.

Sentence Structure

• Sentences are divided into a subject part and a predicate part.
• The subject part contains the simple subject indicating who or what the sentence is about.
• The predicate contains the verb and any direct/indirect objects.
• Nouns can be subjects or objects without changing form; modifiers don't need to change form either.
• Direct and indirect objects are always in the predicate part of the sentence.

Transitive vs. Intransitive Verbs

• Transitive verbs have a direct object, and may also have an indirect object.
• Intransitive verbs do not have or require an object.
• To determine if a verb is transitive, use it in a sentence and see if the thought is complete or needs an object to answer "who or what?".
• Example:
  • "Louis gives." needs an object and is therefore transitive. "Louis gives Jason a turn".
  • "The fireworks explode." is complete and is therefore intransitive.
• Transitive verbs must have a direct object and may have an indirect object while intransitive verbs have no objects.

Direct and Indirect Object Examples

• Direct objects immediately follows the action verb.
  • The gardener pulled the weeds.
• Indirect objects usually come before the direct object.
  • The librarian showed Kelly the newest book.

Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns

• Pronouns replace nouns to make writing more concise.
• Pronouns change form based on their role in a sentence (subject, object, possessive).
• Direct and indirect object pronouns are: me, him, her, it, us, them, you.
• Use objective case pronouns when replacing direct or indirect objects.

Sentences with Direct and Indirect Objects

• Only sentences using action verbs can contain direct and indirect objects.
• Direct and indirect objects can be found in any type of sentence: simple, compound, complex, compound-complex.
• A sentence may have more than one direct object if:
  • It has a compound direct object (Mary ate pancakes and bacon).
  • It has a compound verb (Susannah ran laps and lifted weights).
  • It is compound/complex with more than one clause.
• A sentence may have more than one indirect object if:
  • It has a compound indirect object (I fed the hens and chicks some grain).
  • It has a compound verb (Chase wrote Samantha a letter and drew her a picture).
  • It is compound/complex with more than one clause.
• Sentences with indirect objects can often be rearranged using a prepositional phrase.
• Direct and indirect objects add information to the predicate by explaining the effects of the action verb.

Identifying Direct and Indirect Objects

• Look for action verbs.
• Identify a noun or pronoun that receives the action of the verb (direct object).
• If a noun or pronoun receives the direct object, it's the indirect object.
• Formula to find direct objects: subject + verb + who or what?
• Formula to find indirect objects: subject + verb + direct object + to/for whom? to/for what?
• Modifiers such as 'an' and 'alabaster' are not the direct/indirect objects in a sentence.

Understand direct and indirect objects in sentences. Direct objects receive the action of a verb, answering 'who?' or 'what?'. Indirect objects receive the direct object's action, answering 'to whom?' or 'for whom?'.