double object verbs
Some verbs, like give and bring can have two different patterns after them:
| Noun Phrase (Subject) | Verb Phrase | Noun Phrase (Direct object) |
Prepositional phrase |
| She They |
gave brought |
some money a lot of food |
to the old man for the animals |
| >>>> | <<<< | ||
| Noun Phrase (Subject) | Verb Phrase | Noun Phrase (Indirect object) |
Noun Phrase (Direct object) |
| She They |
gave brought |
the old man the animals |
some money a lot of food |
These verbs are called double object verbs. When we have two noun phrases after the verb the first noun phrase is the indirect object and the second noun phrase is the direct object.
English Grammar
- Pronouns
- Determiners and quantifiers
- Possessives
- Adjectives
- Adverbials
- Nouns
- Verbs
- Clause, phrase and sentence
- clause structure
- verb patterns
- intransitive verbs
- transitive verbs
- link verbs
- double object verbs
- verbs with -ing forms
- verbs with to + infinitive
- reporting verbs with that, wh- and if clauses
- two- and three-part verbs
- verb patterns - adverbials
- clauses: short forms
- relative clauses
- reporting: reports and summaries
- verbs - questions and negatives
- wh- clauses
- noun phrase
- verb phrase
- adverbial phrases
- prepositional phrases
- sentence structure
- adjective phrases
搜索
Tags for teachers
- No terms applicable.
A - Z of Content
- 1 of 6
- ››
Grammar Support
Read more about these areas of grammar:

Comments
91 %
I have few questions about
1. He bought some her flowers. - My answer
"He bought her some flowers." - The answer
7. Why don't you write a letter to explain her? - My answer
Why don't you write her a letter to explain? - The answer
8. He is his first son buying his car. - My answer
He's buying his son his first car. - The answer
What the problems with my answers???
Thanks so much!!!!!
Hi The grammar exercises are great. Though I still make mistakes, I am happy to learn new things. I have some problems with speaking, I guess chats with native speakers will help me, but there is not a such thing here. It would be great to talk to someone about the given themes and to use the given vocabulary. Thanks
Can you help me? Are the two following versions containing a clause possible?
They wanted to sho the English whta it was like ...
They wanted to show to the English what it was like ...
Thanks. Sigrid
team
Hello Sigrid,
The first one is OK, but not the second. However, you could say 'They wanted to show what it was like to the English.'
Best wishes,
Adam
The LearnEnglish Team
Thanks a lot. Your answer was very helpful. I couldn't find any examples in the grammar books/ sections I consulted that had an object-clause instead of a direct object..
By the way, sorry about the typing mistakes.
hi
i cannot understand 7-9-11-10-12
team
Hi,
Have you clicked on 'check answers' to see the correct version?
Best wishes,
Adam
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi and thank you for these lessons.
for me the clause "she gave the old man some money" does not sound logical
Did you wrote those two clauses in that way to show us how they do not make sense? or are they grammatically correct?
team
Hi JSSierra
There is nothing wrong with that. To give somebody something is a common expression.
Thanks
Jack
The LearnEnglish Team