Definition of indirect object in US English:
indirect object
nounˈˌindəˈˌrekt ˈäbjəktˈˌɪndəˈˌrɛkt ˈɑbdʒəkt
Grammar A noun phrase referring to someone or something that is affected by the action of a transitive verb (typically as a recipient), but is not the primary object (e.g. him in give him the book).
Compare with direct object
Example sentencesExamples
- Yes, I didn't know what the difference between a direct and an indirect object was until I was in my 20s.
- Using a straight news story, circle all the direct objects in blue, the indirect objects in red, and the objects of prepositions in green.
- And Russian is a case language so they also had to differentiate between direct and indirect objects.
- I tried not to think about anything but our direct and indirect objects review for the rest of class.
- However, some transitive verbs take a prepositional phrase instead of an indirect object.