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Verbs with Two Objects

And Both "Recipient" Forms – me & to me

 

 

 

Indirect Object and Prepositional Phrase Forms

INDIRECT OBJECT	PREPOSITIONAL "TO" PHRASE
Angela   is giving is bringing in handing is reading is showing is taking is offering is passing is writing me a letter.	Angela   is giving is bringing in handing is reading is showing is taking is offering is passing is writing a letter to me.

 

Verbs that take both forms  (IO & to)

award	bring	deny	feed
give	hand	kick	leave  (bequeath)
lend	offer	owe	pass
post	promise	read	sell
send	serve	show	take
teach	tell	throw	write

 

 

 

 

Verbs with Two Objects

But One "Recipient" Form – me / to me

 

 

 

Indirect Object vs. Prepositional Phrase

INDIRECT OBJECT – ONLY	PREPOSITIONAL "TO" PHRASE – ONLY
The insurance agent   saved charged me fifty dollars.	The insurance agent   announced proved described explained reported mentioned the changes to me.

 

Verbs that take one form only  (IO / to)

INDIRECT OBJECT  – ONLY	PREPOSITIONALPHRASE "TO" – ONLY
allow   My doctor allows me one sweet per day.	announce   He announces the plan to us.	narrate  He is narrated the story to us.
ask   My friend asked me a question.	confess   He confessed his plan to the agent.	refer  He referred a new patient to the Dr. Lang.
bet   My friend bet me ten dollars.	contribute   He contributed money to us for our project.	prove  He is proving the theory to us.
charge     My friend charges me nothing.	convey   They conveyd their sympathies to the widow.	return  He returned the book to his professor.
cost     The book cost me twenty dollars.	declare   He declared his intentions to her.	report  He is reporting the plan to us.
fine     The judge fined him $100..	describe  She describes the plan to us.	say  She says the words to us.
save     My friend saved me a lot of time.	deliver   He delivered the letter to his family.	speak  She speaks the words to us.
spare  She spared me the pain of breaking up.	donate   He donated money to them.	submit  He submitted his plan to his coworkers.
tax     They taxed us $5,000.	explain   He explained the problem to the us.	suggest  She suggested the ideat to everyone.
tip     He tipped them 15%.	introduce  She introduces the plan to us.	transfer  Mr. Woods transferred the package to Mr. Lee.
wish     My friend wishes me good luck.	mention  He is mentioning the plan to us.

Related page: Say / Tell  |  Said Synonyms  

 

 

 

 

Verbs with Two Objects

"Recipient" Forms –  me & for me

 

 

 

Verbs with an Indirect Object or a Prepositional For Phrase

 

S– subject; V – verb; IO– indirect object; DO – direct object; PP – prepositional phrase

 

 

 

Verbs that take two or one form  (IO / for)

INDIRECT OBJECT  / PREP. PHRASE "FOR"	PREP. PHRASE "FOR" ONLY
My friend   is buying is finding is getting is making me a gift.	My friend   is buying is finding is getting is making is cashing is exchanging is opening is retrieving the gift for me.
My friend is buying is finding is getting is making a gift for me.

 

bake   He baked me a cake. / He baked a cake for me.	acquire      Our parents acquired the property for us..
build   He built them a playhouse. / He built a playhouse for them.	answer      He is answering the question for me.
buy   She bought me some ice cream. / She bought some ice cream for me.	borrow     They borrowed a car for us to use.
cook   She cooked them dinner. / She cooked dinner for them.	cash   He cashed a check for me
design   The architect designed them a house./ He designed a house for them.	close  They closed the doors for us.
do  She did me a favor. / She did a favor for me.	collect      The boy collected the eggs for us.
get  She got me a job. / She got a job for me.	compose     They composed a birthday song for her.
find  She found us a home. / She found a home for us.	(ex)change  He exchanged the shoes for me.
hire   He hired us a new driver.. / He hired a new driver for us.	fabricate     They fabricated a new design for the company.
left   The agent left us a new proposal./ The agent left a new proposal for us.	obtain      He obtained permission for us to enter.
make The made me a costume. / They made a costume for me.	open He opened an account for me
prescribe  She prescribed me some medicine. / She prescribed some medicine for me	pronounce  He pronounced the word for me.
save  They save me a seat at the concert. / They saved a seat for me.	recover  The police recovered the stolen painting for us..
sang  The singer sang us his new song. / He sang his new song for us.	retrieve  The dog retrieved the newspaper for his owner.
write  She wrote the President a letter.. / She wrote a letter to the President.	withdraw  The man withdrew the money for his parents.

 

 

Common Mistakes

ERROR	FIX
You bought for me a sandwich.	You bought a sandwich for me.  (Place the prepositional phrase at the end of the clause.)
Thank you the sandwich.	Thank you for the sandwich.  (If you include the item (noun), place it in a preposition phrase with for.)

 

 

 

 

Placement Exceptions

Short Pronouns & Lengthy Objects

 

 

Also see Buy v Thank below.

 

 

Indirect Object as Sole Object

When the "receiver" is the sole object in a clause

 

 

 

 

Buy vs. Thank

S– subject; V – verb; IO– indirect object; DO – direct object; PP – prepositional phrase; ADV – adverb; GER – gerund;
complement – a word, phrase or clause which is necessary in a sentence to complete its meaning

adjunct – a word, phrase, or clause which adds information but is not necessary (optional) in a sentence to complete its meaning.

 

† Note that you is the direct object.  Typically the receiver or beneficiary is the indirect object.  However, when there is no indirect object, the receiver of the action is the direct object. (CaGEL 251, 281) 

 

Also see Thank you for -ing. for similar verbs.

 

 

 

Grammar Notes

Traditional & Linguistic Description

 

TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR	LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION
In traditional grammar, to me and for me are taken as indirect objects.	In current linguistic description, a monotransitive verb takes a noun phrase (NP) as its complement. A ditransitive verb takes a direct object and an indirect object as its complements.  The phrases to me and for me are categorized as prepositional phrases rather than indirect objects. The meaning is the same.. (CaGEL 248)
You bought me a gift. You bought for me a gift. / You bought a gift for me.	See diagrams below.

 

 

Diagrams: Buy vs. Thank

BUY — IO + DO	BUY — DO + PP	THANK —  DO + PP
Verbs that are complemented by indirect and direct objects, normally call the receiver of the action indirect object and the thing acted upon direct object  (ditransitives)	Most verbs that are complemented by an indirect and direct objects, can be restated with the indirect object as a prepositional phrase. (But not: tell, ask, cost, save, etc.)	Some verbs are complemented by a noun as the object of a prepositional phrase, but not as the direct object. In this case the "receiver" is the direct object rather than the indirect object of the clause. (CaGEL 251, 312)

Clause; Subject / Predicate; Finite / Nonfinite; NP –noun phrase; N – noun; VP – verb phrase; V – verb; Comp – complement; Det – determiner; PP – prepositional phrase; P – preposition; Sub – Subordinator

 

Resources

CaGEL — "Direct and Indirect Objects" 244-6, "Ditransitive Clauses" 248, Ditransitive/monotransitive contrasts" 308-9

Swan — "Verbs with two objects" 610

Wikipedia contributors. "Ditransitive verb." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 21 Mar. 2012. Web. 6 Aug. 2012.