Search results for 'tag:Indirect objects tag:Difference between' matching tags 'Indirect objects' and 'Difference between'

TRANSITIVE AND INTRANSITIVE VERBS

phoebinku — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:51:02 GMT

Hello,
What's the best way to explain the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs when you're the person doing the explaining. I know what the differences are, but try as I might every time I set pen to paper -- all I need is a paragraph or two -- I end up going to my local pub instead.
Here's what I've got in a nut shell:
transitive take a direct object:
intransitive take an indirect object/prepositional phrase
Most verbs are ambitransitive.
Some are strictly one or the other.
Am I confused?
P.

Re: tell to someone

Mr-Taciturn — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 23:11:41 GMT

MrPedantic wrote:

Hello MrT

1. Tolkien used to make up his own stories to tell to his children.

2. Tolkien used to make up his own stories to tell his children.

Both are fine.

You can "tell someone stories" or "tell stories to someone". If the indirect object (here, "someone") follows the verb, it's not usual to use a preposition with "someone"; but if the direct object (or rather, cognate object, in this example) follows the verb, you do need a preposition with "someone".

Similarly, you can say "stories to tell someone" or "stories to tell to someone". I don't find much difference between the two versions; except that perhaps the version with "to" has a greater directional sense (i.e. the "to" emphasises the story-telling relationship).

All the best,

MrP

Thanks Mr Pedantic ,but

What do you think of Mr Incha's explanation? It sounds good to me.

Re: tell to someone

MrPedantic — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 23:01:51 GMT

Hello MrT

1. Tolkien used to make up his own stories to tell to his children.

2. Tolkien used to make up his own stories to tell his children.

Both are fine.

You can "tell someone stories" or "tell stories to someone". If the indirect object (here, "someone") follows the verb, it's not usual to use a preposition with "someone"; but if the direct object (or rather, cognate object, in this example) follows the verb, you do need a preposition with "someone".

Similarly, you can say "stories to tell someone" or "stories to tell to someone". I don't find much difference between the two versions; except that perhaps the version with "to" has a greater directional sense (i.e. the "to" emphasises the story-telling relationship).

All the best,

MrP

Re: Difference between till & until

Marius Hancu — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 15:02:53 GMT

There's some differentiation between the two here, they seem to be considered synonyms only for the meaning 2:

---------
till

Function:preposition

1 chiefly Scotland a : to a place of arrival : through to : as far as <till an end> b : to or toward a limit or goal <changed till a dragon> c : TO -- used to introduce an indirect object or complement of various adjectives and nouns <gie it till him> <aye kind till his ain> d : AT, BY, FOR, OF, CONCERNING

2 : throughout the interval extending to : during the whole time from the starting point up to : up or down to a specified time : UNTIL -- used with an implication of termination or change at the time mentioned <till his return> <till after four o'clock> <till next week> <to live till ninety>

3 : at any time before or before the arrival, appearance, or beginning of -- used after a negative expression with an implication that the action or condition began or is to begin at the specified time <a refund which I did not get till ten years later>

4 -- used as a function word indicating position before the clock hour <five minutes till three>

http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com
----------

Re: direct object indirect object

Philip — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 23:53:31 GMT

Anonymous
what is the difference between a direct and an indirect object?

Easiest way for me to explain: direct object receives the action of the verb [I sold the cake]; indirect object receives the direct object [I sold my mother the cake]...

Get's a little tricky with "commnication verbs": "She told us a story". The story is the direct object; we 'sorta' received the story, so 'us' is the indirect object.

Try finding some sentences in which both have been labeled, and see if the above helps at all.

direct object indirect object

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 23:03:23 GMT

what is the difference between a direct and an indirect object?

Re: Prepositional Object, Complement of Preposition and other confusing stuff.

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 02:54:27 GMT

MichalS wrote:
Hi, I'm a new member on the forum. My name's Michal and I'm from Poland.

I've been learning descriptive grammar of Enlgish lately. Reading LONGMAN Grammar of Spoken and Written English, I've come across a couple of problems which are hard for me to overcome. I hope that you will help me with that

A lot of my doubts arose after reading a short passage about Prepositional Objects in the book mentioned above. I'll quote it so you know better what I'm refering to.

"(...) Prepositional objects and indirect objects are alike in that they require a mediating element (a preposition or a direct object). The correspondence is particularly close with indirect objects and corresponding prepositional construction:

Indirect object
He [gave] Carrie a ring.
Prepositional object
Mr Evans [gave] it [to] me.

To stress the correspondence, it may be convenient the use the term oblique object (...)"

And here are my questions:
1) Does Prepositional Object always follow a Prepositional Verb or does it appear in other contexts? And what follows a Phrasal Verb?
2) What's the difference between Prepositional Object and Complement of a Preposition and which one is called 'Oblique Object'?
3) I always thought that Indirect Object stays an object in passive but the passage above shows that it becomes Prepositional Object in this case... Or maybe I just get it wrong???

Please, answer to these questions if you can because these things are haunting me all the time.
Thank you,
Michal

Joh and me or John and I

khoff — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 19:07:05 GMT

"John and me went to town" may be common, but I would consider it incorrect usage. Many native speakers use it, but I would definitely not advise an English learner to adopt it. It's not based on "shaky grounds" but on the difference between grammatical subjects and grammatical objects.

Here, "John" and "I" are subjects of the verb: John went to town. I went to town. John and I went to town. (Ruslana- this is the nominative case. As a Russian, you probably understand cases better than most English speakers!)

Here, "John" and "me" are indirect objects: Bob gave it to John. Bob gave it to me. Bob gave it to John and me. (This is the dative case)

You will also hear native speakers incorrectly say "Bob gave it to John and I" because they are so worried about making the "John and me went to town" mistake that they are afraid to use "John and me" even when it is the correct choice. The test for which is correct is, as Sam mentioned, to remove John from the sentence and see which pronoun (I or me) is correct in the simplified sentence. "John and me went to town" is every bit as incorrect as "Me went to town." "Bob gave it to John and I" is just as incorrect as "Bob gave it to I."

(You will also hear "me and John went to town." Some people might say it sounds casual, informal or unpretentious, but many people would just say it sounds uneducated.)

Sam - I don't want to come down too hard on you; I see you're fairly new to the board. I just want to make clear to non-native speakers that what people do say is not necessarily what they should say. Please don't take offense!

Note to Paco - I'd like to add that "John and we went to town," while grammatically correct, sounds very awkward to my ears. It would be more natural to say something like "John went to town with us."

Edited several times to catch up with things that were being posted while I was writing this!

Re: the dog bit the boy?

khoff — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 22:02:19 GMT

I'm going to just sit back and listen for a while - I'm no grammarian and certainly no linguist, but I thought I had a pretty firm grasp of the basics, like the difference between a direct object and an indirect object. The experts Paco cites seem to have turned my basic understanding inside out. Ouch!

Prepositional Object, Complement of Preposition and other confusing stuff.

MichalS — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 17:24:18 GMT

Hi, I'm a new member on the forum. My name's Michal and I'm from Poland.

I've been learning descriptive grammar of Enlgish lately. Reading LONGMAN Grammar of Spoken and Written English, I've come across a couple of problems which are hard for me to overcome. I hope that you will help me with that

A lot of my doubts arose after reading a short passage about Prepositional Objects in the book mentioned above. I'll quote it so you know better what I'm refering to.

"(...) Prepositional objects and indirect objects are alike in that they require a mediating element (a preposition or a direct object). The correspondence is particularly close with indirect objects and corresponding prepositional construction:

Indirect object
He [gave] Carrie a ring.
Prepositional object
Mr Evans [gave] it [to] me.

To stress the correspondence, it may be convenient the use the term oblique object (...)"

And here are my questions:
1) Does Prepositional Object always follow a Prepositional Verb or does it appear in other contexts? And what follows a Phrasal Verb?
2) What's the difference between Prepositional Object and Complement of a Preposition and which one is called 'Oblique Object'?
3) I always thought that Indirect Object stays an object in passive but the passage above shows that it becomes Prepositional Object in this case... Or maybe I just get it wrong???

Please, answer to these questions if you can because these things are haunting me all the time.
Thank you,
Michal