Indirect Object and Direct Object

Question

What is the difference!!!!HELP! ASAP!

Dokterjokkebrok · Accepted Answer

Hi,

The direct object is affected by the action of the verb.

He gave the ball away. --> Question: what did he give away? Answer: the ball.

The indirect object receives the effect of the action.

He gave the ball away to John. --> Question: Who did he give the ball to? Answer: John

If the DO is placed at the end of a sentence, it's usually accompanied by 'to'. However, if it's in the middle of the sentence, 'to' is left out. In analyzing a sentence, this 'to' is usually said to belong to the indirect object – at least, that's what I was taught.

Cf.

He gave the ball to John.

He gave John the ball. Not: He gave to John the ball.

But, there's more. There's also the benefactive object, which is more or less the same as the IO – and in fact some grammar books have named it the indirect object – but personally I think it should be named differently.

Cf.

He gave the ball to John. Indirect Object

He bought a ball for John. Benefactive Object

The main difference seems to be the preposition. The IO gets 'to' and the BO 'for'.

Is this the answer you were looking for?

Kind regards,

Dokterjokkebrok

Indirect Object and Direct Object

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