Subjects, such as I, the boy, and everyone, come before verbs, but objects come after verbs. There are 2 kinds of objects:

Direct objects answer the question “who” or “what.”

Examples:
My roommate lost his keys.  My roommate lost what? – his keys.
I know the answer.  I know what? – the answer.
She loves her boyfriend.  She loves who? – her boyfriend.

Indirect objects answer the question “to whom” or “to what” (sometimes “for whom” or “for what”) and are used together with direct objects.

Examples:
I gave the dog a bone.
I gave a bone to what? – the dog.

He bought a diamond ring for his girlfriend.
He bought a diamond ring for whom? – his girlfriend.

We told the police officer the truth.
We told the truth to whom? – the police officer.

Direct and indirect object pronouns can replace the nouns:

Examples:
My roommate lost them. (his keys)
I know it. (the answer)
She loves him. (her boyfriend)
I gave it a bone. (the dog)
He introduced her to them. (his girlfriend / his parents)
We told him the truth. (the police officer)

Object pronouns are used after prepositions.

Examples:
Would you come to the dance with me this Saturday night?
I did all of this for you.
Because of them, I decided to join the team.
This is between you and me, so don’t tell anyone.
She sits across from us in class.

The list of direct and indirect object pronouns is:

Me, you, him, her, it, one, us, them

Note:  It replaces nouns beginning with the, this or that.
One replaces nouns beginning with a.

If you put the indirect object before the direct object, don’t use to (sometimes for.) However, if you put the direct object first, then use to (sometimes for) before the indirect object.

Examples:
I gave her my phone number.
I gave my phone number to her.
I gave her it.
I gave it to her.

She bought me a T-shirt.
She bought a T-shirt for me.
She bought me one.
She bought one for me.

They told us their reasons.
They told their reasons to us.
They told us them.
They told them to us.

© 2013 Ambien Malecot