Direct and Indirect Objects

In the sentence, 'My brother built a cool sandcastle,' which word is the direct object?

• brother

• built

• sandcastle

• cool

Answer explanation

The direct object receives the action of the verb. To find it, ask 'built what?'. The answer is 'sandcastle'. 'Brother' is the subject.

Which of these best describes what an indirect object does in a sentence?

• It performs the action of the verb.

• It receives the direct object.

• It describes the verb.

• It connects the subject to a description.

Answer explanation

The indirect object tells us 'to whom' or 'for whom' the action was done, meaning it receives the direct object. The subject performs the action.

Identify the indirect object in this sentence: The coach gave the team a long pep talk.

• coach

• team

• talk

• gave

Answer explanation

The indirect object answers 'to whom?' or 'for whom?'. The coach gave the pep talk (direct object) to the 'team' (indirect object).

Which sentence does NOT contain a direct object?

• I read a great book.

• She kicked the soccer ball.

• We walked to the park.

• He ate the last cookie.

Answer explanation

The phrase 'to the park' is a prepositional phrase that tells where we walked; it doesn't receive the action of the verb 'walked'. The other sentences all have direct objects.

True or False: In the sentence 'She sent a letter to her friend,' the word 'friend' is an indirect object.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

In this sentence, 'friend' is the object of the preposition 'to'. For it to be an indirect object, the sentence would need to be written as 'She sent her friend a letter.'

Complete the sentence with a compound direct object: For the project, I needed _____.

• some help from my friends

• to work very hard

• cardboard, tape, and markers

• after school

Answer explanation

A compound direct object consists of two or more nouns that receive the action of the verb. Here, 'cardboard, tape, and markers' all answer the question 'needed what?'.

The sentence says: 'The teacher baked cookies for the class.' How would you best rewrite this to include an indirect object?

• The teacher baked for the class cookies.

• The teacher baked the class cookies.

• Cookies were baked for the class by the teacher.

• The teacher for the class baked cookies.

Answer explanation

To change the prepositional phrase 'for the class' into an indirect object, you place it between the verb ('baked') and the direct object ('cookies').

True or False: In the sentence 'Show me and my brother your new video game,' the words 'me and my brother' are compound indirect objects.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

The direct object is 'video game' (Show what?). The compound indirect object, 'me and my brother,' tells 'to whom' the game should be shown.

Which word is the object of the preposition in this sentence: 'My mom made a sandwich for me.'?

• sandwich

• made

• me

• This sentence has an indirect object.

Answer explanation

The word 'me' follows the preposition 'for,' making it the object of the preposition. If it were an indirect object, the sentence would say, 'My mom made me a sandwich.'

To find both the indirect and direct objects in 'He offered his friend some popcorn,' which is the best process to follow?

• First, ask 'offered to whom?' to find the indirect object, then 'offered what?' for the direct object.

• First, ask 'who offered?' to find the subject, then 'offered to whom?' to find the direct object.

• First, ask 'offered what?' to find the direct object, then 'offered the popcorn to whom?' for the indirect object.

• First, find the preposition, then find the object of the preposition.

Answer explanation

Always find the direct object first by asking 'verb + what/whom?'. Then, see if there's an indirect object by asking 'verb + direct object + to/for whom?'.