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Kooyeen Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Show me!

0 Hi,02br
00I have doubts about verbs that can take two objects (like 01i00give me the key02i00). I am not sure I can leave out one of them in certain cases, and only use the object that refers to a person. Here are some examples: note there are only the objects that refer to people after the verbs.02br
02br
01i00So you knew that secret. Why didn't you 01b00tell me?02b02br
00I want to see your scar. Why don't you want to01b00 show me?02b00 - I'll 01b00show you02b00 later. I haven't even 01b00shown my mother02b00 yet.02br
00I'll give it to Jenny. - What about me? Will you 01b00give me?02b00 - Nope, I'll only 01b00give Jenny02b00. I promised I'd only 01b00give her.02b02i02br
02br
00My dictionaries don't help me much when it comes to leave out or include a particle in a structure, Is it necessary to mention the other object too, and say "give it to me", "show it to me", etc.? 02br
02br
00Thanks in advance. 050010id1
  

Top answer

0These are idomatic and natural, as you probably know. My sense of it is that sans the original direct object, the original indirect object becomes the direct object. That is, "showing" is something you can do to someone.

— Avangi

  • 0These are idomatic and natural, as you probably know.
  • My sense of it is that sans the original direct object, the original indirect object becomes the direct object.
  • That is, "showing" is something you can do to someone.
  • " "Please take me.
  • 02br 02br 00I've never heard "give" used as you suggest in your third example, but the first two are quite natural.
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4 Answers
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0These are idomatic and natural, as you probably know. My sense of it is that sans the original direct object, the original indirect object becomes the direct object. That is, "showing" is something you can do to someone. I don't think it's all that different from "Please take me to the the movies." "Please take me. "Me" is not the indirect object in the first sentence, as it would be in "Pl
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1i00Will you give me?02i00 won't work. Most of them won't work. Besides 01i00tell02i00 and 01i00show02i00, I can think of only 01i00pay, promise, feed, 02i00and01i00 serve02i00 that work. There are probably a few others.02br
00Note that these are usually impossible witho
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0It would be wrong to say: 'Give me it'. The correct sentence is 'Give it to me'.02br
02br
00If you have a noun then it's OK: 'Give me the book' or 'Give the book to me' (to emphasise the addressee of the action).02br
02br
00But some verbs do not admit of the indirect object, e.g. explain the rule to me'. You can't say 'Explain me the rule'. There are also
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0 Yeah, I should have checked more carefully before posting... because my dictionaries actually seem to help. You can "show somebody", but not "give somebody". 02br
00Well, in any case, opinions are always useful, so now I feel more sure thanks to your answers. Thanks! 050010id1
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