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Harry1999 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Me vs to Me
I am little bit confused about the usage of the objects "me", "him" or "her" etc.
e.g.
Can you explain me the meaning of that sentence
vs
Can you explain the meaning of the sentence to me?
Do these sentences have same meaning?
How can we identify verbs those take second object if its is a prepositional object with to?
e.g.
Can you explain me the meaning of that sentence
vs
Can you explain the meaning of the sentence to me?
Do these sentences have same meaning?
How can we identify verbs those take second object if its is a prepositional object with to?
Top answer
Can you explain me the meaning of that sentence -- No good. - - OK. -- It is a matter of the specific verb.
- Can you explain me the meaning of that sentence -- No good.
- - - OK.
- -- It is a matter of the specific verb.
- You will have to learn which ones are ditransitive.
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4 Answers
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Can you explain me the meaning of that sentence -- No good.
Can you explain the meaning of the sentence to me?-- OK.
How can we identify verbs those take second object if its is a prepositional object with to?-- It is a matter of the specific verb. You will have to learn which ones are ditransitive. Start here:
Can you explain the meaning of the sentence to me?-- OK.
How can we identify verbs those take second object if its is a prepositional object with to?-- It is a matter of the specific verb. You will have to learn which ones are ditransitive. Start here:
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*"Can you explain me the meaning of that sentence" is ungrammatical, but "Can you explain the meaning of the sentence to me" is OK.
There are two syntactic points at issue here. First, the verb "explain" is monotransitive, hence it cannot take two objects, (which explains why your first example is ungrammatical). Second, preposition phrases like "to me" cannot be objects, so although your
There are two syntactic points at issue here. First, the verb "explain" is monotransitive, hence it cannot take two objects, (which explains why your first example is ungrammatical). Second, preposition phrases like "to me" cannot be objects, so although your
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@BillJ: I thought the verb "explain" was a transitive verb. To identify the verbs that take two objects if we ask a question to the verb e.g.
He sent me a letter vs He sent a letter to me.
If we ask What did he send? and Whom did he send?
We get two answers and those indicate direct and indirect objects. Here, in this example, those are 'letter" (DO) and "me" (IO). Can
He sent me a letter vs He sent a letter to me.
If we ask What did he send? and Whom did he send?
We get two answers and those indicate direct and indirect objects. Here, in this example, those are 'letter" (DO) and "me" (IO). Can
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BillJ: I thought the verb "explain" was a transitive verb.
It is, but it's monotransitive, which means it takes only one object. "To me" is not an object.
To identify the verbs that take two objects if we ask a question to the verb e.g.
He sent m
It is, but it's monotransitive, which means it takes only one object. "To me" is not an object.
To identify the verbs that take two objects if we ask a question to the verb e.g.
He sent m
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