Answer:
1. Hector, did you sell Mike your car?
Indirect object: Mike
2. We have given the dog a thorough scrubbing.
Indirect object: the dog
3. Give the usher your ticket.
Indirect object: the usher
4. Uncle Carl brought my brother a gold ring from Mexico.
Indirect object: my brother
5. Hand me a pencil, please.
Indirect object: me
6. The conductor gave the orchestra a short break.
Indirect object: the orchestra
7. Show me the picture of your boat.
Indirect object: me
8. I have given you my money.
Indirect object: you
9. Give Lee this message.
Indirect object: Lee
10. The club gave the town a new statue.
Indirect object: the town
Explanation:
The indirect object is the object/person that benefits from the action that the verb expresses. They are only on transitive verbs, that is to say, verbs that need an object to affect (a direct object).
To identify the indirect object:
- First, we have to identify the verb.
- Ask the verb who?. For example, in the sentence, the club gave the town a new statue, the verb is give so, we ask who gave the town a new statue? The club. The club is the subject of the sentence.
- Then we ask what. Following the previous example, we ask the subject what, what did the club gave the town? The answer is a new statue. The direct object is a new statue. Notice that the verb give is a transitive one because it cannot stay on its own. It needs an object.
- Lastly, ask to whom. To whom did the club give a new statue? The answer is to the town. The indirect object is the town, which is the one that benefited from the verb. Also, we can identify the indirect object by reformulating the sentence so that the indirect object comes after the direct one. In those cases, the indirect object will always be preceded by to. For example, The club gave a new statue to the town.
