Indirect objects that are pronouns
In an semi-unrelated post, I saw where someone had said “In this case the indirect object is placed before the direct object because it is a pronoun.” in reference to the sentence “I gave him the book with the red cover while you were out of town.” He said, “Had it been a noun phrase, it would be placed after the direct object: ‘I gave the book to my dad.’”
Is this correct? I do not understand.
Top answer
I gave him the book with the red cover while you were out of town. The NP "him" is indirect object and the NP "the book with the red cover" is direct object. "While you were out of town is an adjunct of time" in clause structure.
- I gave him the book with the red cover while you were out of town.
- The NP "him" is indirect object and the NP "the book with the red cover" is direct object.
- "While you were out of town is an adjunct of time" in clause structure.
- Indirect objects precede direct objects.
- Preposition phrases, like "to my dad" are not indirect objects, though they are complement of the verb concerned, in your example "gave", where there is only one object, the direct one "the book".
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I gave him the book with the red cover while you were out of town.
The NP "him" is indirect object and the NP "the book with the red cover" is direct object. "While you were out of town is an adjunct of time" in clause structure.
Indirect objects precede direct objects.
Preposition phrases, like "to my dad" are not indirect objects, though they are complement of t
0allexkramer432Had it been a noun phrase, it would be placed after the direct object: ‘I gave the book to my dad’.
False. You can have "I gave my dad the book".
In fact, you can have rather long indirect objects:
I gave [each of the 20 children who passed the test] a prize.
It's just that when the indirect objects gets too long, the
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