Direct Object & Indirect Object

few English verbs, such as to describe, to distribute, to explain and to say, can take an indirect object only when the indirect object is preceded by a preposition. In the following examples, the direct objects are printed in bold type, and the indirect objects are underlined.
e.g. He described his experiences to the reporters.
They distributed the leaflets to their friends.
We explained the situation to the participants.
She said something to her teacher.

These verbs cannot take an indirect object which immediately follows the verb. One reason for this may be to avoid creating sentences which are ambiguous or confusing. For instance, a sentence which began with the words He described the reporters... would create the impression that it was the reporters who were being described. When the reporters is preceded by the preposition to, there is no ambiguity.

Indirect objects

In addition to taking direct objects, some verbs also take indirect objects. In the following examples, the direct objects are printed in bold type, and the indirect objects are underlined.
e.g. We gave the child a toy.
I sent the man the information.

In these examples, the words child and man are said to be the indirect objects of the verbs gave and sent. Indirect objects refer to things which receive indirectly the actions described by the verbs. In the above examples, the words toy and information are the direct objects of the verbs.

Indirect objects usually refer to living things.

It is possible for a sentence containing an indirect object to be rewritten by placing a preposition before the indirect object. When this is done, the original indirect object can be regarded either as the indirect object of the verb, or as the object of the preposition.

For example, the sentence We gave the child a toy, can be rewritten as follows:
We gave a toy to the child.
In the rewritten sentence, child can be regarded either as the indirect object of the verb gave, or as the object of the preposition to.

The following examples illustrate the position of the indirect object in a sentence. The direct object, toy, is printed in bold type, and the indirect object, child, is underlined.
e.g. We gave the child a toy.
We gave a toy to the child.

When an indirect object is not preceded by a preposition, the indirect object must be placed before the direct object. Thus, in the sentence We gave the child a toy, the indirect object child is placed before the direct object toy.

However, when an indirect object is preceded by a preposition, the indirect object must be placed after the direct object. In the sentence We gave a toy to the child, the indirect object child is preceded by the preposition to. Therefore, the indirect object, child is placed after the direct object toy.

The object which is placed last in a sentence tends to receive greater emphasis than the object which is placed first. Thus, the word order of a sentence can be varied in order to give greater emphasis to one object or the other. For instance, in the sentence We lent the teacher a book, the direct object book is slightly emphasized. However, in the sentence We lent a book to the teacher, the indirect object teacher is emphasized.

Direct objects

Most of the verbs examined so far have been in the Active Voice. When a verb is in the Active Voice, the subject of the verb refers to the person or thing performing the action described by the verb; and the object of the verb refers to the person or thing receiving the action described by the verb.

In the following examples, the objects of the verbs are printed in bold type.
e.g. He read the book.
I did not see the balloon.
They ate the potatoes quickly.
She rode her bicycle along the sidewalk.
Do we understand it?

In these sentences, the verbs read, did see, ate, rode and do understand are in the Active Voice; and the words book, balloon, potatoes, bicycle and it are the objects of the verbs. These objects are said to be direct objects, because they refer to things which receive directly the actions described by the verbs.

"Do" or "Make"

The two verbs 'do' and 'make' are often confused. The meanings are similar, but there are differences.

'Do' for Activities

Use the verb 'do' to express daily activities or jobs. Notice that these are usually activities that produce no physical object.

do homework
do housework
do the ironing
do the dishes
do a job

'Do' for General Ideas

Use the verb 'do' when speaking about things in general. In other words, when we do not exactly name an activity. This form is often used with the words 'something, nothing, anything, everything, etc.'

I'm not doing anything today.
He does everything for his mother.
She's doing nothing at the moment.

Important Expressions with 'Do'

There are a number of standard expressions that take the verb 'do'. These are standard collocations (verb + noun combinations) that are used in English.

do one's best
do good
do harm
do a favour
do business

'Make' for Constructing, Building, Creating

Use 'make' to express an activity that creates something that you can touch.

make food
make a cup of tea / coffee
make a mess

Important Expressions with 'Make'

There are a number of standard expressions that take the verb 'make'. In a number of cases the verb 'do' seems more appropriate. These are standard collocations (verb + noun combinations) that are used in English.

make plans
make an exception
make arrangements
make a telephone call
make a decision
make a mistake
make noise
make money
make an excuse
make an effort

Determiners

Determiners are words that are used with nouns to clarify the noun. They can clarify:

* to define something or someone
* to state the amount of people, things or other nouns
* to state possessives
* to state something or someone is specific
* to state how things or people are distributed
* to state the difference between nouns
* to state someone or something is not specific

There are different types of determiners. There type of determiner depends on the type of noun. Singular nouns always need a determiner. Plural nouns the determiner is optional. Uncountable nouns the determiner is also optional.

There are about 50 different determiners in the English language they include:

* Articles: a, an, the
* Demonstratives: this, that, these, those, which etc.
* Possessives: my, your, our, their, his, hers, whose, my friend's, our friends', etc.
* Quantifiers:few, a few, many, much, each, every, some, any etc.
* Numbers: one, two, three, twenty, forty
* Ordinals: first, second, 1st 2nd, 3rd, last, next, etc.

Positive Statements & Negative Statements

Positive statements don't have to have a positive meaning. It is possible to have a sentence that is positive grammatically with a negative connotation.

Example:
* I know you you will fail your test.
* We forgot to do our homework.

Negative states are statements that contain the word(s) not, don't, can't etc. Negative statements can be grammatically negative with a positive connotation.

Example:
* I know you didn't fail your test.
* We did not forget to do our homework

Difference between "That" & "Which"

That - "That" is used with restrictive phrases.

Restrictive phrases are phrase. that are essential to the sentence.

Which - "Which" is used with nonrestrictive phrases.

Nonrestrictive phrases are phrases that state non essential information. A phrase is considered nonrestrictive phase if the phase can be omitted from the sentence.

Examples:
* The shirt that you lent me is in my bag.
* The shirt, which is red, is in my bag.
* The house that I wanted to buy has been sold.
* The house, which I didn't want to buy, has been sold.
* The food store that I go to all the time is closed today.
* The store, which is near my house, is not open today.