Pronoun as Object

Objects of a sentence are divided into two types: 1.) Direct Object & 2.) Indirect Object

Direct Objects

Pronoun as a direct object directly receives the action. It is the one directly acted upon.

example:

"Lance told her."

 

Who is the subject? Lance because he is the one who did the action.

What did Lance do? Told something to someone.

Whom did he tell? Her.

The person referred to by the pronoun 'her' is the direct receiver of the action Lance did. Therefore, 'her' is the direct object. That person is the one being acted upon.

More examples:

"Sandy chew it."

"They saw him."

"Millie told them."

Indirect Object

Pronoun as an indirect object indirectly receives the action. The direct object receives the action first, then the indirect object receives the action second.

Example:

"Lance gave her the flowers."

The indirect object in this sentence is the pronoun 'her' because she received the direct object or received the action second.

Lance gave the flowers to her. Lance acted upon the flower first. Then gave them to her second, which means to say, Lance held the flowers first so he could give them to her.

Another example:

"Max lent it to him."

There are two pronouns in the sentence: 1.) it 2.) him

The sentence pattern is not the same as in the first example. Therefore, it cannot directly be assumed that 'it' is the indirect object because, in this sentence, Max acted toward the thing first which is represented by the pronoun 'it'. She then acted toward him, second. This makes 'him' the indirect object while 'it' is the direct object.

More examples:

"She made her this."

"Matthew gave that to her."

"They asked them one."