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Anonymous Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

Object of the Preposition vs Indirect Object

Greetings.

In the statement "I gave a book to Marc." Is "Marc" the indirect object or the object of the preposition "to"?

The question comes up because many statements involving the preposition "to" can be rewritten as follows:

I gave Marc the book.

In this sense, "Marc" appears to be the indirect object, or is it still the object of the preposition "to", though the preposition is unspoken?

Thank you

Allanya
  

Top answer

Marc is the indirect object. He receives the direct object. Whatever answers the question "to whom" will generally be the indirect object.

— BarbaraPA

  • Marc is the indirect object.
  • He receives the direct object.
  • Whatever answers the question "to whom" will generally be the indirect object.
  • If you can move what comes after the "to" to the position before the direct object (I gave the book to Marc --> I gave Marc the book) then it's the indirect object.
  • Compare it to I put the book on the table .
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12 Answers
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Marc is the indirect object. He receives the direct object.

Whatever answers the question "to whom" will generally be the indirect object.

If you can move what comes after the "to" to the position before the direct object (I gave the book to Marc --> I gave Marc the book) then it's the indirect object.

Compare it to I put the book on the table. You can't say "I
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In the statement "I gave a book to Marc." Is "Marc" the indirect object or the object of the preposition "to"?
It depends on which grammar book you read.

Some systems say that only the version without a preposition should be called an indirect object.
In such a system, I gave a book to Marc doesn't have an indirect object; I gave Marc a book
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So, sometimes you can move the object of the preposition to before the direct object (eg. I gave the book to Marc / I gave Marc the book ; I baked a cake for my mum / I baked my mum a cake)
and sometimes you can't (I put the book on the table / I put the table the book ) (sorry, I had some more examples with 'to', but can't think of them now!)

does anyone have any idea what
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Hi, I suggest this website. It might help you. I searched around for a while and found this. Be sure to check out the links on the sight, too.

http://www.171english.cn/html/grammar/00046.htm
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What if it's a sentence like 'Jessie presented the beautiful quilt to Miss Diller.' ? Is Miss Diller the io or op?
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AnonymousIs Miss Diller the io or op?
Have you read this thread? The answer is given above. The specific terminology depends on which system of grammar you are using to label these elements of sentences.

CJ
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CalifJimI personally use the second system.
Out of curiosity, do you still use the second system?
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Aspara GusOut of curiosity, do you still use the second system?
Yes. "indirect object" if we're talking semantics, and "object of a preposition" if we're talking syntax.

I'm influenced by my study of European languages. For most of those, supposing you have to translate, when you see "(gave, said, ...) to his brother", or some such thing, you
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In such a system, I gave a book to Marc doesn't have an indirect object; I gave Marc a book does.

That's the one for me. If I taught in places where they labelled to/for+ noun as an indirect object, it didn't particularly worry me.
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CalifJimLet me guess. The syntactic one?
Emotion: big smile

Yes. ‘Indirect object‘ is the name of a
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