The Classification of Words

Objective Complements (Objects)
§ 443. Objective complements (objects) may be defined as noun (or noun-equivalent) adjuncts of objective verbs, denot­ing the object of the action or its subject (the by-pbrase). Our definition does not differ essentially from that given by A. I. Smirnitsky ¹: «Дополнение — это второстепенный член предложения, обозначающий предмет, участвующий в процессе, причем это обозначение не связывается с выра­жением предикации».
From the definition given it is clear that the object is not bound with any definite part of the sentence, it is attached to the verb.
In the following examples objective complements are associated with different parts of the sentence.
Writing letters for the homesick patients was her self-imposed duty. (Randall).
The object is attached to the subject.
He carried out experiments in surgery. (Daily Worker). It is connected with the predicate.
Adrian was filled not with futile rebellion. (Galsworthy).
The object is connected with the predicative complement.
There was no time to see her. (Jerome). Her is an objective complement connected with the attri­bute.
§ 444. In English, objects are primarily divided into pre­positional and prepositionless. The latter are, according to their meaning and position in the sentence, further divided into direct and indirect objects.
The direct object denotes something (or somebody) di­
rectly affected by the action of the verb. The indirect object
usually denotes the person for whose benefit the action is
performed or towards whom it is directed: He sent me (indi­
rect) a letter (direct). ^!
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The indirect object usually precedes the direct object and cannot be used without it. In He sent me "me" would be under­stood as a direct object.
The prepositional object with to (the so-called to-phrase) and for (the for-phrase) are often grammatical synonyms of the indirect object. Accordingly, the sentence / offered the student my book can be transformed into / offered my book to the student, I bought him a toy into / bought a toy for him.
The direct object is used with a much greater number of verbs than the indirect object, has practically no structural synonyms, and is often so closely connected with the verb that the meaning of the latter is vague without its object. The sentence / made, for instance, is not clear unless the ob­jective complement a shelf or tea or a report is added.