A selection of English ESL direct object printables

Once students understand what is a direct, indirect object they can practice applying their new knowledge with this easy exercise. Sentence quite are easy the aim of this exercise is to practice a new acquired knowledge.

Identify Direct Objects, Indirect Objects, Objects of Preposition

The object of this worksheet is to practice reported speech in a fun way. Give each student a card. They shouldn't say the original quote but the reported version of it. The others should guess which film it is from.

Movie quotes - reported speech

Introducing phrasal verbs step by step with the common "go" as a basis. A good way to teach transitive and intransitive verbs and how some verbs need prepositions. Explains direct/indirect objects without the need for a lot of presentation time.

Phrasal verbs

It is about identifying direct and indirect objects. Learn what a direct object is and what an indirect object is. Learn how to locate them within a sentence. Practice this exercise before completion.

Direct and Indirect Objects

Here you have a very useful worksheet for students to practice embedded questions. You should give one copy per each student and have them work on them after explaining the grammar notes and before producing oral sentences. So that, students can have a better grasp of the target structure. 

Indirect Questions - Embedded Questions

This is a very useful worksheet you will be able to use with young ESL learners for teaching and practising numbers, colors and classroom objects. I used this by playing "The Whisperer", you whisper a command in a student's ear (e.g. there are three yellow rulers) and he/she has to repeat it out loud for the rest of the class. Everybody has to follow this direction and count and color as it was said. 

It can also be used in a more simple way, by just saying the students how to color the different objects. 

Hope it is useful!

Classroom objects

A serious public service announcement about the dangers of not knowing the difference between direct and indirect objects.

Direct and Indirect Objects - Warning! - This may save your life

The first page is a normal grammar exercise in which students must follow the instructions, deciding if the sentences have the correct word order or replacing one object with a pronun.



The second page is a list of common double-transitive verbs, which you should cut out before the lesson and put into a bag. The students then create a chain story, where each sentence has to contain one verb drawn from the bag.



Topics that I've seen work for this exercise:

1. Little Red Riding Hood

2. The Snow Queen (you can use a variation such as Elsa and Anna)

3. A holiday adventure

4. A fantasy trip (good for revising conditionals at the same time)

5. The life of a famous person

Direct and indirect objects

Follow the directions and choose the correct object that matches the description

Big Small Long Short Heavy Light Tall

A worksheet with mixed exercises on verbs with two objects. Training word order in English sentences with direct and indirect object (prepositional phrase) in varied tasks.

Verbs with two objects exercises

Grammar practice activity.Direct and Indirect speech worksheet. Objective to practice reporting the sentences. 

Use different reporting verbs like: state, admit, explain, suggest, report, guarantee, reveal, say, tell, remark etc.

The sentences can be written once, twice or three times with more than one reporting verb for practice. Bear in mind the use of verb tenses. These sentences can also be used for discussion. This should be used with intermediate, upper-intermediate or advanced students.

Direct and Indirect Speech

A situation is given where the characters use the present continuous tense in a context about digging a hole in the pedway or sidewalk. It involves seven characters and gives various opportunities for them to take part in the conversation. the vocabulary is familiar and the questions in the follow up  (exercise 2) encourage the students to think critically by coming up with an end for the story as well as for making up the conversation based on what they think or believe. It is a great way to use grammar in conversations. It also highlights the use of the direct object in the sentences (exercise 1). 



Present Continuous Tense in a Conversation

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Articles: Definite or indefinite article (a, an or the)

BE + infinitive structures (e.g. he was to become famous)

Clauses of contrast (e.g.  although, while)

Clauses of purpose (e.g. in order to, so that, so as to)

Clauses of reason (e.g. because, because of, due to, as, since)

Cleft sentences (e.g. It's Joey we're looking for)

Comparison: Comparative adjectives and structures

Comparison: Superlative adjectives and structures

Conditional 2 (second conditional) - would

Conditionals: Conditional phrases (e.g. unless, provided that, as long as)

Conjunctions (aka connectives, e.g. and, but, or, so, then)

Contractions (shortened forms, e.g. don't, aren't, etc.)

Determiners (words that can come before nouns)

Formal and informal English (politeness or colloquial language)

Future perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Future perfect simple and continuous (progressive) tense

Future phrases (e.g. be about to, bound to, likely to, due to, set to + INF)

Homonyms (two words with the same pronunciation - homophones and homographs)

It as preparatory subject (e.g. it's raining, it's nice of you to)

Linking verbs (aka copulas, e.g. I am a student)

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Nouns: Collective nouns (team, class, family, committee)

Nouns: Proper nouns (names of people, cities, companies)

Oxymorons (phrases with words of contradictory meaning, e.g. living dead)

Participles: Past participle (e.g. HAVING DONE)

Participles: Present participle (e.g. DOING)

Parts of Speech (aka word classes, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Phonetics (pronunciation, IPA, phonetic symbols)

Plural nouns: regular plurals with S ending

Prefixes (e.g. A, UN, IM, DIS, MIS, EN, etc. )

Prepositions vs adverbs (e.g. before me, saw him before.)

Prepositions: Double prepositions (e.g. out of)

Prepositions: Participle prepositions (e.g. pending, concerning)

Prepositions: Phrase prepositions (e.g. by means of)

Present perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Present perfect simple or present continuous tense

Present simple tense: S for third person singular verbs

Present simple vs continuous (progressive) tense

Pronouns: EACH OTHER, ONE ANOTHER (reciprocal pronouns)

Pronouns: Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, mine)

Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself))

Pronouns: SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY, NO ONE, NOTHING, etc.

Pronouns: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE (demonstratives)

Pronouns: YOU and THEY to talk about people in general

Quantifiers (e.g. some, many, much, any, few, little)

Questions: WH questions (open-ended questions)

Reported speech: reported questions (indirect questions)

There is / there are / there was / there were / there will be, etc.

Verbs: Transitive or intransitive verbs (words that can or cannot stand with objects)

Working with Paragraphs: ordering, titling

Role play, miming, drama activity or improv game

Pictionary (picture dictionary) or picture matching

Writing an opinion essay (persuasive essay)

Learners who are Pre-A1 have just begun learning English and will first learn how to:<ul><li>Say the letters in the alphabet and numbers</li><li>Say hello, talk about names and age</li><li>Name the colors and dates, express likes and dislikes</li></ul>

Absolute beginners who have begun to learn the letters and numbers

Learners taking the A1 Elementary exam should be able to:<ul><li>Introduce themselves and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, things he/she has, people he/she knows.</li><li>Communicate using very basic phrases as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: common adjectives & adverbs of frequency, going to, how much/how many, imperatives, I'd like, 's – possessive, common prepositions of place and time, present simple & continuous, there is/are</li></ul>

A very basic tourist level, which is enough for buying food and a bus ticket

Learners taking the A2 Pre-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand sentences and frequently used expressions (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).</li><li>Complete tasks that are routine and exchange information about familiar matters.</li><li>Describe matters of immediate need in simple terms.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: countable/uncountable nouns, adverbs of frequency, future will/going to, much/many, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, common phrasal verbs, common modals: can/should</li></ul>

A tourist who can do basic conversations about the past, present and future

Learners taking the B1 Intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand points regarding family, work, school or leisure-related topics.</li><li>Deal with most travel situations in areas where the language is spoken.</li><li>Create simple texts on topics of personal interest.</li><li>Describe experiences, events, dreams, and ambitions, as well as opinions or plans in brief.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: question tags, intensifiers: too/enough, future tenses, past tenses, modals, conditionals, wh-questions in the past</li></ul>

Learners who can deal with both familiar and routine situations, in friendly and work contexts

Learners taking the B2 Upper-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.</li><li>Interact with fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without difficulty for either party.</li><li>Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain an opinion on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: perfect tenses, mixed conditionals, modals in the present, phrasal verbs, reported speech, wish, relative clauses</li></ul>

The level where you can be a tour guide for your foreign friends and talk about a lot of topics, even abstract ones, with ease and fluency

Learners taking the C1 Advanced exam should be able to: Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, using linking phrases (=words that connect ideas between sentences). Main grammar points to know: inversion, mixed conditionals, modals in the past, all passive forms, phrasal verbs (all patterns), wish/if only for regrets

Learners who can smoothly communicate in every walk of life, read long texts and write well

Learners taking the C2 Proficient exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand almost everything read or heard with ease.</li><li>Summarize information from a variety of sources into a coherent presentation.</li><li>Express themselves using precise meaning in complex scenarios.</li><li>Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations</li></ul>

Get here and you are ready to study in English at university

36 Direct object English ESL worksheets pdf & doc