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Pucca Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Structure

0 Hello all,02br
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00While my English teacher was explaining something, she said something that sounded quite weird and I really wonder whether she was right or not. Which structure is the correct one?02br
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00 - Offer something to someone 01i00Joe offered a cup of tea to Jane02br
02i00 - Offer someone something 01i00 Joe offered Jane a cup of tea02br
02i02br
00Thanks in advance for your help. 0-
  

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— Yankee

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10 Answers
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0 Everything is perfect, Pucca.02br
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00When the indirect object comes before the direct object, you don't need 'to':02br
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00Throw me the ball.02br
00Throw the ball to me.02i0-
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0 Hello Yankee,02br
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00Thanks for your reply! 02br
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00So, do you mean that both of my examples are correct? Honestly I don't understand why. What if it was with "explain"?02br
00 I mean, we can't say "Explain me this exercise" since the correct one is "Explain this exercise to me", am I right? Why are both correct in the other sentence?
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0 Hi Pucca02br
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00Unfortunately there is no reason why verbs are used in different ways. You'll just have to remember the possible structures. There are more of them than have been discussed so far:02br
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01i00He 01u00bought02u00 01font00me02font00 a book.02br
00H
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0 Hello Cool Breeze,02br
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00Thanks for your post. I really thought that there was a rule for those structures:). So, most of the times I will have to use my instinct.02br
00Anyway, "He offered a cup of tea to me" sounds much better than the other one to me...050010id4
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0 Hi Pucca02br
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00Sorry, my post was not specific enough.02br
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00As CB pointed out, there are other things you just need to learn and remember. 02br
00And as you yourself have now pointed out, certain verbs just don't work the same way. 'Explain' doesn't work with your teacher's general rule of thumb. There are other vebs that are si
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0Hello Yankee!:)02br
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00Thanks for the explanation! Do you mean that "suggest" and "recommend" follow this structure: Suggest/recommend something to someone?02br
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00Thanks once more!:D0-
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0 Right. The best wording/word order for suggest and recommend is 01b00suggest/recommend something (to someone)02br
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02b00Following up on CB's comment, look at the two sentences below. They have 01u00different02u00 meanings:01b02br
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00I want you to recommend me for a job.02br
00
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0 02br
01i01b00I want you to recommend me for a job.02b02i00 --> Does this mean that you want that person to say that you are great at work and all those good things to the "boss" so that he/ she could be taken on? I'm sorry, I am not able to say it in just a word..02br
01b01i00I want you to recommend a job for me. 02
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0 Yes, in the first sentence, you want someone to tell a company (or the boss in a company) that the company should hire you. 02br
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00In the second sentence you want someone to tell you what job would be appropriate or right for you.02br
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00Good work, Pucca.050010id2
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Yankee12cite10Good work, Pucca.15012br
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10Nono. I have had two great teachers!;)02br
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00Thanks, you solved all my doubts!:D 010id2
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