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Questions tagged [objects]

Questions about the part of speech governed by prepositions and active transitive verbs.

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Can I omit "to" in infinitives as object?

I was reading a book, and then the following sentence appeared: "Our wisest move at this point is retreat" But this is not the only case where I've seen this, there are also sentences that ...
The_Soul_Eater's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
546 views

What is the object of this sentence?

In Modern Family (S06E05), the following sentence is spoken: Lily's parents were wrong about Mrs. Plank. What is the object of this sentence? Is Mrs. Plank the object - because Mrs. Plank is the ...
John Smith's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
785 views

What Is 'Given' Information according to the 'Given-before-New' Principle?

In Steven Pinker's book The Sense of Style, he talks about the 'given-before-new' principle (most notably on pages 131–138). He states, '... people learn by integrating new information into their ...
MJ Ada's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
19 views

Object / accusative personal pronouns replacing actor in certain clauses [duplicate]

I'm a native English speaker, and I noticed that I sometimes use accusative pronouns (him, her, me) to replace actors in certain clauses. I have a feeling this is prescriptively considered incorrect ...
El Hays's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
51 views

"By equating to (something)": Implicit object or typo or bad grammar?

In p.251, "Introduction to statistics and probability for engineers and scientists, Sheldon M.Ross, 6th edition", I found this sentence: By equating to zero, we obtain that the maximum ...
Tran Khanh's user avatar
-2 votes
1 answer
127 views

What is the object in the sentence "my sister and her work together" [closed]

It seems like 'my sister and her' are both subjects so it should be 'my sister and she'... And it would be if they worked on something specific together (the obvious object). Eg: My sister and she ...
Not a teacher of English's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
190 views

Possessive case with who(m)ever in an object noun phrase

Disclaimer The question put forward as the pretext for mine's closure does not answer my question at all—that question contains “who(m)ever” in a clause acting as an object, which I have no trouble ...
lil' barbussy's user avatar
3 votes
5 answers
415 views

What is the function of "their way" in "they went their way"?

Go is clearly an intransitive verb. This source {Chomp Chomp_Robin L. Simmons} says: Some verbs, such as arrive, go, lie, sneeze, sit, and die, are always intransitive; it is impossible for a logical ...
fev's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
2k views

Is vs is to + verb [duplicate]

I saw the following sentence while reading. I realized that all my peers do is read textbooks. My question is whether the meaning of the sentence will change if the sentence is changed to I ...
user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
55 views

"Neither" between two objects in negative sentence

I had written sentence like this: However, this approach does not easily allow us to calculate confidence intervals for population growth and other derived quantities, since this way we do not obtain ...
Tomas's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
581 views

"I doing sth", "me doing sth", "my doing sth" as an object [closed]

Consider the following four sentences: She doesn't like that I talked rudely to her. She doesn't like I talking rudely to her. She doesn't like my talking rudely to her. She doesn't like me talking ...
Tom's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
70 views

How can I best describe the content of the object complement in the sentences below? [duplicate]

I came here after reading that perception verbs should be followed by either a base infinitive or a present participle as in the following examples: I saw the car crash into the barrier. I saw the ...
Damian Eastwood's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
419 views

Infinitive as direct object [duplicate]

Merriam's dictionary defines "eat" as an intransitive verb and provides the following definition followed by an example: "to bear the expense of : take a loss on" the team was ...
Eric1982's user avatar
  • 141
2 votes
1 answer
68 views

"Ask questions of the past raised" or "Ask the past the questions raised"?

I read a following sentence: [Yet the stories they tell avoid any evolutionary model of progress, as well as any systematic critique. I want to outline, however rapidly, the history of the present ...
Lemon's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
677 views

In "play badminton," what is the logic that makes "badminton" the object of "play"? It almost seems like an adverbial relationship

Let's take the sentence "I play badminton every day." Lexico.com has "play" here as taking an object in "badminton", with play signifying "take part in". For ...
peisander's user avatar
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-6 votes
1 answer
100 views

"Whom" is right but I've never EVER heard anyone say "whom" out loud [closed]

For example: "Whom hit you?" "Whom should I pick?" Maybe no one has enough time to think about this in quick, everyday conversation?
user445513's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
99 views

Passive voice with ditransitive verb, which is the patient?

If I were to make the following constructions, how would I label the parts of the sentence using passive voice terminology? Alice seems to be the agent in both these constructions, but which is the ...
Patrick O'Brien's user avatar
0 votes
4 answers
2k views

In the sentence "The cat likes to eat fish," is the object "likes to eat fish" or just "fish"?

In the sentence "The cat likes to eat fish," is the object "likes to eat fish" or just "fish"? I can see an argument for both, because the sentence "I like it" ...
warasdf's user avatar
5 votes
4 answers
3k views

Help Fixing Yoda-like Sentence Structure? [closed]

I'm a native American English speaker and have noticed something in my speech/writing that I don't really understand. I've noticed my speech sounds "Yoda-ish" and have been trying to figure ...
nessefi's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
114 views

Hoodie with no hood [closed]

What is a proper term for for a hoodie like clothing but without a hood. I usually wear this under my coat
Little Timmy's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
225 views

How does "_ and I"/"_ and me" rule change when inside brackets?

This question was specifically motivated by the Youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iitXhgif_lo which has the title "How one little boat (and me) held up miles of London traffic". ...
LordQuaggan's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
764 views

Grammar rule: ONE sentence; ONE subject, ONE predicate. Is it?

I just watched a video on grammar (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drv6jD8xWdw) that states that English sentences can only have one subject. At first, I thought it was obvious, but then I thought of ...
Pablo GM's user avatar
  • 135
1 vote
1 answer
266 views

Preparatory it; not possible for complements

I was reading Practical English Usage, by Michael Swan and got into something that has got me deeply confused. It basically says that preparatory it can be used as a preparatory subject or object, but ...
Pablo GM's user avatar
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0 answers
163 views

Should a prepositional phrase beginning with “of” that follows a plural noun be singular or plural?

Which of these is correct? “Types of citrus fruit” or “types of citrus fruits”? I suspect it is the first example, but I would really like to know what the grammar rule governing these situations ...
jbebout1295's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
291 views

Forgot in this sentence: Transitive or Intransitive?

"Today is Friday, but Adae forgot." Hi everyone, so I encountered this sentence in a writing book . I believe "forgot" in this context is intransitive since there is no object in ...
meepyer's user avatar
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0 votes
0 answers
60 views

Usage of "of" with an implicit object

Consider this sentence from an article about a killing: “Based on repeated threats on the night of, they (Rose, Ford and Liakos) decided to go on a scouting mission that was preserved on video,” ...
pacoverflow's user avatar
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0 votes
0 answers
73 views

What are the subjects, objects, complements and gerunds in this sentence?

As with most great avant artists, it’s easier to describe how Arca makes you feel than what it is, exactly, she makes. Just wanted clarification on a few things. What is the first part of the ...
x30's user avatar
  • 77
0 votes
2 answers
70 views

Grammar of "get" [closed]

A Voice of America Learning English page contains the sentence "You get the grass the dirt." It brings so many memories and feelings and, you know, it’s earthy and natural. You get the ...
Myeong Eun-Bi's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
127 views

One subject, compound object phrases - comma or no comma?

My question is about how to punctuate sentences like the following: The system allows searching for variables using their long name and cryptic variable names and filtering the data sets based on a ...
Kathy Murphy's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
66 views

Can I use a participial phrase in this way to modify the objects of a sentence?

I've been thinking recently about participial phrases and all the ways they can be used. I've been advised that it's good to think of them as providing a supplementary predication about the subject, ...
JJ_Doogal's user avatar
  • 142
0 votes
1 answer
53 views

More sophisticated case of "me and I"!

Which of the following is correct? "I agree that it will be just me and you managing the projects." or "I agree that it will be just I and you managing the projects."
ali's user avatar
  • 1
0 votes
3 answers
365 views

"about me" versus "about I" [closed]

Consider the following sentence: The details in the first section are the most important ones about me. The sentence seems completely natural, and yet, by analysis it appears that "the most ...
brainchild's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
219 views

Was it common in Shakespeare's time for adverbial phrases and objects to precede the verb in spoken English?

I'm trying to come up with a list of differences between Shakespeare's manner of writing and modern English, and one of the big differences I've noticed is that Shakespeare often seems to put ...
Nathan Wailes's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
245 views

How did "I" come to be used in sentences like "he said to Fred and I"?

I have noticed increasing confusion with the use of the nominative and accusative forms for the first person singular. Why has this come about? I can only assume that it might be the result of ...
Denise Baldry's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
40 views

Hello, I need help in understanding the grammatical structure of this sentence

I need help in understanding the grammatical structure of this sentence. Could anyone break it down? Thank you very much!! "Scattered among the leaves crawl creatures called Zeepers that are ...
mark's user avatar
  • 11
0 votes
0 answers
48 views

Sentence structure and form

Is this sentence grammatically correct? "The great sea creature came alongside Lotty and nudged him, so he climbed on board its strong back. I don't get what sentence structure the second part ...
Aidi's user avatar
  • 21
0 votes
2 answers
48 views

What it the right choice?

Which of the following statements is correct and why? In other words, is it OK if we bring "it" or if used, it would be redundant and grammatically wrong? It is used for an action that we ...
Amir F's user avatar
  • 153
4 votes
2 answers
516 views

"Whomever" as both object and subject

I put together a document with my findings in order to help whomever keeps working on this. I understand that "whomever" should be used as an object, whereas "whoever" as a ...
Eduardo Bezerra's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
351 views

Are the infinitives that follow catenative verbs considered object?

I am confused to find objects of catenative verbs , for example i was looking for the verb refuse and it's transitive and intransitive when i found some examples from oxford dictionary but still not ...
samir nour's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
76 views

Preposition+Object?

Hi saw this online and was wondering about object following a preposition. "Common verbs that are followed by at + object are: glance, look, laugh, smile, stare, rejoice etc. Ex: She smiled at me....
Google User's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
66 views

Object vs adverbial

In the sentence: "The teachers in our school are nice." Is "in our school" an adverbial or part of the subject "The teachers in our school"? Wondering because it would ...
Google User's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
400 views

Grammar of sentence "He helps people find happiness"? Object Complement or Indirect object?

He helps people find happiness. Is this an example of an Indirect Object (People) or an Object Complement (find happiness)?
Siddharth's user avatar
  • 101
0 votes
0 answers
146 views

Dropping a first person subject pronoun in a conditional sentence

Is it possible to drop the 'I' before the verb in a sentence where the object comes before the verb? A few examples are: If my journey (I) restart, then I do waste my time. If my folders (I) delete, ...
Said Bisher's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
35 views

Appropriate pronoun for "deciding on" + pronoun + infinitive? [duplicate]

I was wondering about the grammar of sentences like this: They decided on him going to Japan and her going to China. Or should it be like this? They decided on he going to Japan and she going to ...
user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
65 views

Is "the computers" in "here are the computers that you requested" a subject or object? [closed]

I'm a little confused which is the subject and the object in this sentence: Here are the computers that you requested. My guess is that "the computers" is the object and "you" is the subject. Is ...
Vasily zaitsev's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
162 views

Complement of the object?

I'm reading Verbs of Incomplete Prediction in my grammar. It says that certain Transitive verbs take, beside an object, a complement to complete their predication. I have understood almost everything ...
Rich Handsome Guy's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
43 views

Why objects of prepositions are called "objects"?

Textbooks of English grammar say that there are three types of objects: direct objects, indirect objects and objects of prepositions. But I cannot understand why the former two types (a major ...
57tggx's user avatar
  • 1
0 votes
1 answer
35 views

Which sentence is correct and why: agreement?

Please tell me which is correct and why: My favorite thing to smell is flowers. Or My favorite things to smell are flowers.
Cassmi's user avatar
  • 9
-1 votes
1 answer
46 views

"These children were abducted by a member of their own family." vs. "These children were abducted by members of their own families."

I'm having trouble figuring out which sentence is the most acceptable. The subject and object are both plural, but it sounds more natural using a singular object. Also, I can't figure out if the ...
Tommy O'Neill's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
54 views

The object of a transitive verb

I was simply wondering if the object of a transitive verb can come before the verb? As in "Good luck," the man said to John. Is "good luck" the object of "say" here? Thank you in advance!
evertgoran's user avatar

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