Objects & Modifiers

Indirect Objects & Complements

Some verbs take two words or phrases after them. In Grandma sent Luis a postcard, the first one receives the second. In They painted the fence white, the second one describes the first. The diagram draws these two patterns with different shapes.

What you’ll learn

Find the indirect object and draw it on a line below the verb
Check an indirect object by rewriting the sentence with to or for
Use explain, say and describe with to, never with an indirect object
Recognise an objective complement and draw it after the direct object
Tell two objects from an object and its complement with the = test

The indirect object

Grandma sent Luis a postcard. — the thing sent is a postcard, so that is the direct object. Luis is who received it: the indirect object.

A sentence with both objects is a double-object sentence, and its verb is a ditransitive verb: give, send, show, tell, lend, buy. The indirect object comes right after the verb, before the direct object, with no preposition in front of it.

Find the direct object first
“Sent what?” → a postcard. Always start here: the indirect object tells who gets the direct object.
Ask to whom or for whom
“Sent a postcard to whom?” → Luis.
Confirm with the rewrite test
Move Luis to the end and put to before it: Grandma sent a postcard to Luis. Verbs like buy, cook and get take for: Priya cooked her parents dinner → Priya cooked dinner for her parents. If neither rewrite works, the word is probably not an indirect object (see the objective complement).

“Grandma sent Luis a postcard.”

Reed-Kellogg — the indirect object hangs below the verb

nsubj Nominal subject
ROOT Root of the sentence
dative Dative
det Determiner
dobj Direct object

Dependency — dative sits alongside dobj, not below it

Comparing the two views

Reed-Kellogg puts the indirect object below the base line, in the shape of a prepositional phrase, because Luis means the same as to Luis. The dependency tree disagrees: it hangs Luis directly from the verb with its own label, dative, at the same level as the direct object (dobj). Both are reasonable ways to analyse the sentence.

Common mistakes with indirect objects

Calling to Luis an indirect object. With to or for in front, it is a prepositional phrase, and Luis is the object of the preposition. In Grandma sent a postcard to Luis, the Roles exercise labels to Luis Adverbial prep. phrase. In the tree, Luis is pobj, though the parser may still label to dative.
Explain, say, describe and suggest never take an indirect object. Write Diego explained the rule to me, not Diego explained me the rule. In the same way, Spanish explícame la regla becomes explain the rule to me, and dime becomes tell me, not say me.
No preposition before the first object: Nina gave her brother the keys, not Nina gave to her brother the keys.
When the direct object is it or them, use to or for: Santiago sent it to his mother, not Santiago sent his mother it.

The objective complement

They painted the fence white. — there are two things after the verb again, but the relationship is different. The second one, white, does not receive anything; it describes the fence.

That is an objective complement. It works like a subjective complement, but it renames or describes the direct object instead of the subject. The diagram uses the same backslash, placed after the direct object.

Verbs that take an objective complement are called factitive verbs: make, call, name, elect, choose, consider, find, keep, paint. In English the complement normally comes after the object: The news made my mother happy, not The news made happy my mother. Spanish often puts it first: hizo feliz a mi madre.

“They painted the fence white.”

Reed-Kellogg — a backslash after the direct object

nsubj Nominal subject
ROOT Root of the sentence
det Determiner
dobj Direct object
oprd Object predicate

Dependency — oprd attaches to the verb, not to the object

Comparing the two views

Both views show that white is not a second object. Reed-Kellogg uses the backslash, its mark for a word that renames or describes another word. The tree gives white its own label, oprd (object predicate), but hangs it from the verb, not from fence, even though it describes the fence.

Quick check

Find the indirect object in Priya read the children a story. Where does it go in a Reed-Kellogg diagram?
Answer
The children. “Read what?” gives a story, the direct object; “read a story to whom?” gives the children, who receive it. It goes on a horizontal line below the verb read, joined to it by an empty diagonal, with the on a slant under children.
Rewrite Omar got his sister a ticket with to or for. After the rewrite, is his sister still an indirect object?
Answer
Omar got a ticket for his sister. Get takes for, like buy and cook: Omar does something for her. After the rewrite, his sister is no longer an indirect object. It is the object of the preposition for, inside a prepositional phrase.
Use the = test on The guide showed us the old bridge and The coach called the match a disaster. Which sentence has an objective complement, and where does Reed-Kellogg draw it?
Answer
The second one. In the first, us = the old bridge is false, so there are two objects: us is the indirect object and the old bridge the direct object. In the second, the match = a disaster is true, so a disaster is an objective complement that renames the direct object. Reed-Kellogg writes it on the base line after match, behind a backslash.
What is wrong with Nina described us her new house? Write the correct sentence.
Answer
Like explain, say and suggest, describe never takes an indirect object. Move us to the end and put to before it: Nina described her new house to us.

Key terms

Indirect object: Who or what receives the direct object. On a horizontal beneath the verb; relation dative. She gave Luis a postcard. Show me the map.
See: Core Arguments
Ditransitive verb: A verb taking both a direct and an indirect object — give, send, tell, show, offer. She sent him a letter. They offered us seats.
See: Miscellaneous
Objective complement: A noun, an adjective or a phrase after the direct object that renames or describes it. Drawn on the base line after the object, behind a backslash. In the tree the relation varies: oprd, or ccomp when the parser makes the object its subject (The news made my mother happy), or xcomp for an infinitive phrase. They painted the fence white. They named the puppy Max.
See: Subjective Complements
Complement: A word, phrase or clause that completes the verb. Reed-Kellogg draws two kinds behind a backslash on the base line: a subjective complement renames or describes the subject, an objective complement the direct object. She became a pilot. The neighbours call him Beto.
See: Subjective Complements · Grammar Basics

Practice on a real sentence

Told has two objects here, and each one is a whole phrase. Ask “told what?” to find the direct object, then “told it to whom?” to find the indirect object. Each object has its own modifier: a participial phrase in one, a prepositional phrase in the other.

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