Objects & Modifiers

Indirect Objects & Complements

Some verbs take two nouns after them. Whether the second one is a recipient or a renaming changes the whole analysis — and the diagram uses two completely different shapes to say which.

What you’ll learn

Find an indirect object and place it beneath the verb
Rewrite a double-object sentence with 'to' or 'for' as a test
Recognise an objective complement
Tell a second object from a word renaming the first

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.

It is drawn on a horizontal line hanging beneath the verb, joined by a short diagonal — the same shape as a prepositional phrase, but with no preposition written on it. That is deliberate: the preposition is implied.

Find the direct object first
“Sent what?” → a postcard. Always do this one first; the indirect object is defined relative to it.
Ask to whom or for whom
“Sent a postcard to whom?” → Luis.
Confirm with the rewrite test
An indirect object can always be rewritten with to or for: Grandma sent a postcard to Luis. If the rewrite fails, it is not an indirect object.

“Grandma sent Luis a postcard.”

Reed-Kellogg — the indirect object hangs below the verb

nsubjNominal subject
ROOTRoot of the sentence
dativeDative
detDeterminer
dobjDirect object

Dependency — dative sits alongside dobj, not below it

Comparing the two views

Reed-Kellogg puts the indirect object below the base line, which is a claim: it is less central than the direct object, and it is standing in for a prepositional phrase. The dependency parse disagrees — it makes Luis a dative, a core relation hanging directly off the verb at the same level as dobj. Two defensible analyses of the same sentence.

The objective complement

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

That is an objective complement, and it is the mirror image of the subjective complement in Subjective Complements. Same backslash, anchored to the object instead of the subject.

“They painted the fence white.”

Reed-Kellogg — a backslash after the direct object

nsubjNominal subject
ROOTRoot of the sentence
detDeterminer
dobjDirect object
oprdObject predicate

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

Comparing the two views

Both views mark this as different from a double object, and both do it in the way that is natural to them. Reed-Kellogg reuses the backslash — the mark that always means “this renames or describes what is on the other side”. The tree uses a distinct relation, oprd, and attaches it to the verb. Note that the tree does not attach white to fence, even though that is what it describes.

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 or adjective renaming or describing the direct object. Backslash after the object; relation oprd. They painted the fence white. We named the kitten Pepper.
See: Subjective Complements
Complement: Any element completing the meaning of a verb. Required, so it sits on the base line rather than below it. She became a pilot. We elected her captain. — neither sentence survives without its complement.
See: Grammar Basics

Practice on a real sentence

A ditransitive verb with both objects, plus a participle and a prepositional phrase. The longest sentence in the published set — take it slowly.

“John told the person being interviewed the reason for his unusual questions.”

Parts of speech

Give every word its coarse Universal Dependencies category.

Words 0/12Attempts 0Correct 0Time 0:00

Sentence — select a part of speech below, then click the word(s) it applies to

John told the person being interviewed the reason for his unusual questions.