Direct and Indirect Objects in Sentences

Direct Objects, Indirect Objects, and Objects of the Preposition

Multiple Choice

What is the subject of the following sentence?

The pack of wild dogs hunted us through the woods.

• dogs

• pack

• us

• woods

Direct Objects

A direct object is a noun or pronoun that receives the action of an action verb. It answers the question “Whom?” or “What?” after the verb

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• Mr. Scheip ate a pizza by himself. [ He ate what?]

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• My friend met The Rock and John Stamos this summer. [She met whom?]

Indirect Object

A noun or pronoun that answers the question “To whom?” or “To what?” following an action verb.

​

• Mr. Scheip gave us an assignment to complete. [He gave what? To whom was it given?]

• Charlotte sent Eliza a letter describing married life. [She sent what? To whom was it sent?]

​Hint: If there is an IO, it will ALWAYS go before a DO.

Object of the Preposition

The object of the preposition is a noun or pronoun at the end of a prepositional phrase.

​

• I sent a letter to Elizabeth.

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• Beneath the banyan tree, there was a sense of tranquility.

Finding the subject and objects

* If you are completely lost, start by labelling the parts of speech as best you can

1. Put parentheses around the prepositional phrases = Object of the preposition

2. Find the verb(s) and ask “Who/what?” before the verb = subject

3. Ask “Whom/what?” after the verb = Direct Object

4. Ask “to/for whom/what?” after the verb and DO = Indirect object

   See, I told you it’s easy.

Multiple Choice

Mike showed Travis his coin collection

• subject

• direct object

• indirect object

• object of the preposition

Multiple Choice

Mike showed Travis his coin collection

• subject

• direct object

• indirect object

• object of the preposition

Multiple Choice

Mike showed Travis his coin collection

• subject

• direct object

• indirect object

• object of the preposition

Multiple Choice

The teacher awarded extra credit to the most creative student.

• subject

• direct object

• indirect object

• object of the preposition

Multiple Choice

The teacher awarded extra credit to the most creative student.

• subject

• direct object

• indirect object

• object of the preposition

Multiple Choice

The teacher awarded extra credit to the most creative student.

• subject

• direct object

• indirect object

• object of the preposition