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"Please hand me the comb."

My textbook says to identify what 'me' is, I was able to do that for sentences in which the subject before the verb but I cannot do that for this sentence?

I know that hand is the verb, and the comb is the object but what would me be?

The indirect object?

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closed as off-topic by Kris, Janus Bahs Jacquet, Benyamin Hamidekhoo, Ste, p.s.w.g Dec 5 '13 at 22:57

  • This question does not appear to be about English language and usage within the scope defined in the help center.
If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.

  • The sentence has an elided (implied) subject. Please visit English Language Learners – Kris Dec 5 '13 at 7:02
  • 4
    This question appears to be off-topic because it is better on ELL. – Kris Dec 5 '13 at 7:03
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Me is the indirect object. The subject is you (who is acting), the direct object is comb (what is being acted on), and hand is the verb.

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  • Using single quotes or appropriate style can make a whole lot of difference. The subject is not you. The subject is 'you' (or you). The sentence has an elided (implied) subject. – Kris Dec 5 '13 at 7:01
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The older concept is differentiating between transitive and intransitive. A more practical concept is about the valency of a verb and its hierarchical transitiveness.

Intransitive: valency = 1. Only one object, which is the source but zero targets:

[1]He died.

Transitive: valency = 2. One source object + one target object.

[1]She dyed [2]her hair.

Di-Transitive: valency = 3. One source object[1] + one target object[2] + one nested target[3].

[1]She gave [3]me [2]her hair.
[1]He wrote [3]me [2]an email.

Nested transitiveness:

{[1]He wrote [2]an email} [3]{to me}.

Hyper-transitive adventure of a verb am and nested verb rain:

I am afraid it will rain cats and dogs three more days after tomorrow before New Year's through Christmas by lots of havoc with continuous fury, with incessant fear.

[1]I am
[2] afraid{
  [4]it will rain {
     ....
}
[3]with incessant fear

The complete tree:

[1]I am
[2]afraid{
  [4]it will rain {
     [5]cats and dogs
     [6]three more days
     [7]{
       [10]after tomorrow
       [11]before New Year's
       [12]through Christmas
    }
    [8] by lots of havoc
    [9] with continuous fury
  }
}
[3]with incessant fear

reflected with more precise numbering

[1]I am
[2]afraid{
  [2.1]it will rain {
     [2.1.1]cats and dogs
     [2.1.2]three more days
     [2.1.3]{
       [2.1.3.1]after tomorrow
       [2.1.3.2]before New Year's
       [2.1.3.3]through Christmas
    }
    [2.1.4] by lots of havoc
    [2.1.5] with continuous fury
  }
}
[3]with incessant fear
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  • The 'more practical concept' considers afraid a verb? – Edwin Ashworth Dec 5 '13 at 5:30
  • Thanks. Corrected. [1]My brain was [2]tired with [3]too much unaccomplished after [4]a busy day of [5]repetitive experiments [6]not too helpful to [7]my goals. – Blessed Geek Dec 5 '13 at 5:42
  • The valency tree needs to be more precise -- I'll edit it another day, but currently it still proves the point. – Blessed Geek Dec 5 '13 at 5:46
  • Does this treatment distinguish true objects from what Aarts and McMahon claim 'should not be considered objects but are best regarded as belonging to a slightly different category':post-verb noun groups such as appear in: The piano resembled a pianola./The piano weighed a ton./The piano had a stool./The piano seemed an antique. ? – Edwin Ashworth Dec 5 '13 at 6:09

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