Skip to main content

Direct Object & Indirect Object

Before we learn what are direct object and indirect object, let us understand what is an object.

Object is the receiver of an action. It means a subject does something to an object. An object is either a person or a thing that gets influenced by the action of a subject. 

An object comes after a verb. 

- You invited him.

- He tells a story.

In the above given sentences, 'him' and 'a story' are objects, as they come after verbs 'invited' and 'tells' respectively, and they receive the actions. The object 'him' talks about someone who is benefited by the action, whereas the object 'a story' talks about something that gets affected by the action.


Direct Object & Indirect Object

When an object directly receives the action, it is a direct object.

- She explained the rules.

- He told a lie.

In the sentences above, 'the rules' and 'a lie' are direct objects, as they directly receive the actions.


When an object receives a direct object, it is an indirect object.

- She explained him the rules.

- He told me a lie

In the sentences above, 'him' and 'me' are indirect objects, as they receive direct objects 'the rules' and 'a lie' respectively.


More examples:

Subject    Verb    Indirect object    Direct object

She        taught    them                    a lesson.

I            gave        him                        a gift.

They    brought      me                    some flowers.

He        made        me                    the bill.


We can also place a direct object first. We use 'to' or 'for' before an indirect object, when  an indirect object comes after a direct object.

Subject    Verb    Direct object    To/ For    Indirect object

She        taught    a lesson            to            them.

I            gave        a gift                to            him.

They    brought    some flowers    for        me.

He        made        the bill            for        me.


In the second pattern,

- Verbs that take 'To':

bring, feed, give, hand, lend, send, offer, owe, pass, pay, post, promise, read, sell, show, take, teach, throw, write 

- Verbs that take 'For':

book, bring, build, buy, choose, cook, fetch, find, get, leave, make, order, pick, reserve, save


Buddham welcomes queries, if you have any.


Comments