An indirect object is the person or thing that receives something as a result of an action. It answers the question “to whom?” or “for whom?” something is done.

When you say “Maria gave her brother a book,” the indirect object is her brother because he's the one receiving the book. The book itself is the direct object (the thing being given), but her brother is the indirect object (the person it's being given to).

Here's an easy way to spot indirect objects: they usually come between the action word and the thing being acted upon. “Dad bought me ice cream.” “The teacher told the class a story.” “I wrote my grandmother a letter.” In each case, the bolded words are indirect objects because they're receiving something: ice cream, a story, a letter.

You can often test whether something is an indirect object by adding “to” or “for” in front of it and moving it after the direct object. “Dad bought ice cream for me” means the same thing as “Dad bought me ice cream.” Not every sentence has an indirect object. “I threw the ball” has no indirect object, but “I threw the ball to Jake” does.