Questions tagged [dative-alternation]
The dative-alternation tag has no usage guidance.
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What is the technical grammatical difference between these two sentences?
. . . and is one preferred over the other?
I believe he sent these contacts an email earlier this week.
I believe he sent an email to these contacts earlier this week.
I feel the second is ...
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Placement of objects after a verb [closed]
I learned that if we place an indirect object after a direct object, we use to/for to connect. Can we use any other preposition to do the same ?
Example:
Put the blanket on me.
Here, "me" (...
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Is the sentence "The administrative office sent Australia a sick koala." acceptable or not?
a) The administrative office sent a sick koala to Australia.
b) *The administrative office sent Australia a sick koala.
Given the alternation case above, sentence (b) is considered non-sentence ...
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Preposition and article prior to dates - UK vs US differences
In the lead of the Wikipedia article on the JWST, I notice the following fragment:
It was launched 25 December 2021…
As a Brit, I recognize that as an American form. In the UK, we'd tend to use, &...
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Any difference between "give five dollars to him" and "give him five dollars"?
This might be a most frequently asked question, but I am quite confused
about the difference between the transitive and the ditransitive usage of verbs
such as give, write, and buy which can take an ...
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Can object pronouns and possessive pronouns be used side by side without a preposition? [duplicate]
In a previous post on this site, the question was asked, "Can we use two pronouns side by side?" However, the example given (and thus answers offered) didn't quite suit the particular question that I ...
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In “We’re going to throw a surprise party for her”, is "for her" an adjectival phrase or an adverbial phrase?
Consider these sentences:
We’re going to throw a surprise party for her.
I’ll get some flowers for Anne.
In (1) for her is a prepositional phrase. Is this instance of for her
an adjectival ...
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Is expression "It does us no harm." grammatically correct?
I would write it with "to":
"It does to us no harm."
or
"It does no harm to us".
Similar example from https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/do-to
"I’ll never forgive him for ...
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Indirect object pronoun before direct object
I have seen a few people say that indirect objects that are in the form of a pronoun should be placed before the direct object in a sentence. Why is that? I didn’t know it mattered. For example:
“I ...
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Confusing syntax in sentences with indirect object complements
Some verbs produce unambiguous syntax when used with an indirect object.
I brought a toy to Katy. --> I brought Katy a toy.
I bought flowers for my wife. --> I bought my wife flowers.
...
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How to tell if something is a core complement or a non-core complement?
CaGEL on page 216 cite the following:
"Kim gave the key to Pat"
An NP indirectly related to the verb through the preposition is referred as an oblique. The phrase "to Pat" is a non-core ...
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Is it correct to say, "Send it me?" [duplicate]
I'm a native speaker, but I'm a bit of a language lover and I'm afraid some other grammatical structures have encroached on my use of English. Another native English speaker looked at me funny the ...
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Since the rules do not forbid “I brought him him”, can I therefore say it that way?
I’ve searched about direct and indirect objects, and all explanations have led me to think that I could say this:
?I brought him him.
Is that allowed? I think it should be, since the rules governing ...
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Question About Diagramming
This has to do with indirect objects. Take these two sentences for example:
The ship's captain gave the crew orders.
The ship's captain gave orders to the crew.
The first sentence is easy to ...
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Is "Whom did you give the book?" ungrammatical?
You gave him the book. (1)
Based on the sentence (1),
it seems to me that the following form of question is possible:
...
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What are some give-type verbs that cannot undergo straight dative alternation?
The following dative alternations sound off to me:
I want to donate my clothes to charity. --> I want to donate charity my clothes.
He has to submit his paper to his teacher. --> He has to ...
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Why does a pronoun as the predicate of an indirect object (e.g. "I gave her it") sound wrong?
Forgive me if I've used the wrong terms in the title, I did my best given my middle-school grammar lessons and Wikipedia.
"I gave her the book" sounds just fine, but "I gave her it" sounds stilted ...
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Direct and Indirect Objects with the verbs: Give, Buy, and Bring
Both these phrases are correct,
Give me it
Buy me them
so why are these sentences wrong?
Give John it
Buy John them
In these sentences, "me/John" are both indirect ...
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Is it still an indirect object if you're taking something away?
So Jim is the indirect object in the sentence "Sally gave Jim a sandwich." But is Jim still the indirect object if the sentence is "Sally took the sandwich from Jim"? And if the sentence were to ...
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Why "answer me" but not "answer me the question"?
Why are "answer me" and "answer the question" acceptable but not "answer me the question"? Is it similar to "explain me (something)"?
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"I gave him + INDIRECT OBJECT" vs. "I gave + INDIRECT OBJECT+ to him"
Consider these two sentences: "I gave him a pencil," and, "I gave a pencil to him."
Is it correct that the important part of the sentence is placed at the end? When we want to emphasize the pencil ...
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What's wrong with "I'll open you the door"?
When I call the buzzer outside my girlfriend's flat, she sometimes says *"I'll open you the door". I correct this to "I'll open the door for you".
I've never heard a native speaker say it the first ...
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Why is it correct to say "He came and said something to me" but not "He came and said to me something"?
This question was just posed to me and I couldn't give a clear answer beyond that the second just feels wrong and one would generally use a direct or indirect quotation, as in "he came and said to me ...
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"to throw someone something" vs "to throw something at someone"
In the following sentence, the need for the at preposition is clear:
"He threw something at him"
However, if I started the sentence the other way round, it would feel (at least to me) as if the ...
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Which one is more appropriate to use: "send you" or "send to you"?
Are both of the following sentences correct?
Let me know if there is still something I need to send to you.
Let me know if there is still something I need to send you.
Which one is more appropriate ...
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