An indirect object, whether noun or pronoun, is one that is indirectly affected by the action or event. An indirect object can be found with a transitive verb, which already has one direct object: ho mandato delle cartoline ai miei amici ‘I sent some postcards to my friends’. Or it can be used with an intransitive verb, which does not take a direct object, in which case it may be found together with a preposition such as a, da: Marco telefonava a sua madre ogni sera ‘Marco used to phone his mother every evening’.