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What is the correct way to direct a request:

"Would you please e-mail me the check?"

or

"Would you please e-mail to me the check?"

And why?

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1 Answer

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"E-mail me the check" sounds right to me, and "e-mail to me the check" does not. "E-mail the check to me" however, does sound correct. This is typical of ditransitive verbs in English: there is a choice between "me" as a direct object (without a preposition) and an indirect object (with a preposition), but the choice is often dictated by things like word order and whether or not the objects are pronouns.

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Well, aside from the minor detail that a check, being a physical object, cannot be emailed, regardless of the grammar... – Marthaª Nov 7 '10 at 2:38
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Indeed. Note that if you swapped the order of the objects, it would be "e-mail the check to me" instead of "e-mail the check me" – Dusty Nov 8 '10 at 0:14

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