English Grammar: Complements of Verbs

Complements — Indirect Object

Some verbs that express action take two objects, a direct object and an indirect object. The indirect object tells to whom the action is directed or for whom the action is performed.

The indirect object is used after certain verbs: get, give, lend, offer, read, tell, buy, send, show, make, pay, etc.

In the sentence, Mother bought Ellen a coat, there are two objects, a direct object and an indirect object. The word coat is the direct object. It tells what Mother bought. The word Ellen is the indirect object. It tells for whom Mother bought a coat. The indirect object always precedes or comes before the direct object. In the examples below, the indirect object is in blue and the direct object is in italics.

The librarian read the children a story.

Give him five dollars for his services.

The tailor made Edward a brown suit.

There are two tests that you can apply in order to identify an indirect object. One test is to determine the position of the object. The indirect object always precedes the direct object. The other test is to determine whether the indirect object seems to be the object of the preposition to or for understood. The following sentences illustrate this point:

The librarian read (to) the children a story.

Give (to) him five dollars for his services.

The tailor made (for) Edward a brown suit.

The words to and for are never expressed when a word functions as an indirect object. If we change the order of the sentence and supply the preposition, our sentence would read as follows: The librarian read a story to the children. In this sentence the word children is no longer the indirect object but is the object of the preposition to.