A practical english grammar - Vyssaja skola 1978
Indirect and direct objects
Sound symbols
Certain verbs, of which give is the best example, name actions in which something (rarely someone) is handed over to somebody, or in which something is done, made, created, etc., for somebody. The thing which is done, made, handed over, etc., is the direct object of the verb, and the recipient or beneficiary of the action is the indirect object.
1. He sent the letter. (Pattern 4)
2. He sent me the letter. (Pattern 5a)
3. He sent the letter to me. (Pattern 5b)
In the sentences above, the letter is the direct object. As the examples show, the indirect object (me) can either come between the verb and the direct object, without a preposition, as in sentence 2, or after the direct object, with a preposition (usually to or for) as in sentence 3. Here are some more examples:
My father gave the school a swimming pool.
Mary bought her husband a new necktie.
She bought it for her husband.
The teacher read the students a story.
She read it to them.
They owe us twenty dollars.
They have owed it to us for a long time.
The tailor made me a fine suit.
That man taught me mathematics.
Show me what you are doing.
I told them I would be back soon.
Limitations on the order of indirect and direct objects. The verbs used in the preceding examples can be followed by the indirect and direct objects in either order, but this is not true of all verbs. The following are examples of verbs that are almost never followed by the direct object and a prepositional phrase.
I envy him his excellent health.
They asked me a lot of questions.
They forgave him his rudeness.
We promised the children a picnic. A day’s rest will do you good.
On the contrary, say and some words of related meaning (admit, announce, explain, reveal) are never followed by the indirect-direct pattern, but only by the direct object and prepositional phrase.
I didn’t say a word to him.
He admitted to us that he had taken the money.
I explained everything to them.
The, normal word order when the indirect object is in the form of a prepositional phrase is verb + direct object + phrase. This is changed, however, when the direct object is a clause or other “heavy” element, consisting of several words. Study these examples.
I explained the rule to some students who stayed after class. (“Light” direct object, “heavy” indirect object: normal word order)
I explained to them the rules governing the use of direct and indirect objects. (“Light” indirect object, “heavy” direct object: altered word order)
The indirect-direct pattern can not be used when the direct object is one of these words: me, you, him, her, it, us, them. The rule here is that these pronouns, which are normally spoken with weak stress, can not follow an indirect object. Therefore, if one of these pronouns is the direct object of the verb (and it will usually be it or them, since the others rarely occur as direct objects in these constructions), then the prepositional phrase must be used for the indirect object. For example, “She showed me the house.” If the house is replaced by it, then the indirect-direct pattern can not be used (“showed me it” is not standard English, though it is sometimes said). The correct form is: “She showed it to me.” The crucial thing here is the stress of the direct object. Other pronominal words (called substitute nouns in this book), such as several, some, one, this, that, etc., which are stressed, are readily used after indirect objects.
Show me that.
Give them several.
Find us one.
Indirect objects with the passive voice. As a general rule, it is the direct object of an active sentence that becomes the grammatical subject of the passive voice when the sentence is transformed to the passive, as these sentences illustrate:
Active: The Smith family bought the house.
Passive: The house was bought by the Smith family.
If the active sentence has an indirect object as well as a direct object, it is more often the indirect object that becomes the grammatical subject in the passive. Study these examples.
Active: They awarded John the prize.
Passive: John was awarded the prize.
Active: They gave the child an ice cream cone.
Passive: The child was given an ice cream cone.
The direct object, however, may also be made the grammatical subject. In this case, the indirect object, if it is expressed, is in the form of a phrase with to or for.
Active: They showed me the house.
Passive: The house was shown to me.
Active: They awarded John the prize.
Passive: The prize was awarded to John.
In a few cases, mostly with personal pronouns, the indirect object may occur after a passive voice without a preposition.
That lesson was taught him when he was quite young.