indirect object

A noun or pronoun that indicates to whom or for whom the action of a verb in a sentence is performed. With verbs that can be followed by two objects, the indirect object typically comes immediately after the verb.

Examples and Observations:

• "Give me my robe, put on my crown; I have
  Immortal longings in me."
  (William Shakespeare, from Antony and Cleopatra)



• "A friend is someone who can sing you the song of your heart when you've forgotten it.
  (anonymous)



• "The dative is a pair of constructions, one similar to the content-locative, the other containing two naked objects:
  • Give a muffin to a moose.
  • Give a moose a muffin.
  The first is called the prepositional dative (because it contains a preposition, namely, to), the second the distransitive or double-object dative (because the verb is followed by two objects, not just one). In traditional grammars the two phrases are called the indirect and direct objects; linguists today usually call them simply the 'first object' and the 'second object.' The term dative, by the way, has nothing to do with dates; it comes from the Latin word for 'give.'"
  (Steven Pinker, The Stuff of Thought, Viking, 2007)



• "Give me a fish and I eat for a day. Teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime."
  (Chinese proverb)



• "I bought myself a parrot. The parrot talked. But it did not say, 'I'm hungry,' so it died."
  (Mitch Hedberg)



• "I never give you my pillow,
  I only send you invitations,
  And in the middle of the celebrations I break down."
  (John Lennon and Paul McCartney, "Carry That Weight")