- •The object
- •Ways of expressing the object
- •§ 68. The object can be expressed by:
- •Types of object
- •§ 69. From the point of view of their value and grammatical peculiarities, four types of objects can be distinguished in English:
- •§ 70. The direct object is used irrespective of the absence or presence of other objects attached to the same verb.
- •§ 71. The most usual position of the direct object is that immediately after the predicate verb it refers to.
- •§ 72. The direct object comes before the predicate verb it refers to in the following cases:
- •§ 74. The indirect recipient object is generally used together with the direct object and precedes it (see the examples above).
- •§ 75. As to their form and position the following cases must be distinguished:
- •§ 76. Sometimes the indirect recipient object may be placed before the predicate verb. This occurs in the following cases:
- •§ 79. There is another use of it as о formal object: it can be attached to transitive or intransitive verbs to convey a very vague idea of some kind of an object.
- •§ 80. The verbs that most frequently take a cognate object are:
- •Objects to adjectives
- •Objects to statives
- •Objects to adverbs
- •§ 83. There are some adverbs which can take objects, but these can only be indirect non-recipient objects.
§ 70. The direct object is used irrespective of the absence or presence of other objects attached to the same verb.
He wrote the article two weeks ago.
Tommie did not know anything about it.
Ned ordered him to start.
Some English verbs which take a direct object correspond to Russian verbs followed by an indirect non-recipient object with a preposition. These verbs are:
to address smb to affect smb, smth to answer smth to approach smb, smth to attend smth to enjoy smth to enter smth to follow smb, smth to join smb, smth to mount smth to need smth, smb to play smth to reach smth to watch smb, smth |
- обращаться к кому-либо - влиять на кого-либо, что-либо - отвечать на что-либо - подойти, приблизиться к кому-либо, чему-либо - присутствовать на чем-либо - получать удовольствие от чего-либо - входить во что-либо - следовать за кем-либо, чем-либо - присоединяться к кому-либо, чему-либо - сесть верхом, взобраться на что-либо - нуждаться в чем-либо, ком-либо - играть на чем-либо, во что-либо - дойти, достать до чего-либо - следить за кем-либо, чем-либо |
The position of the direct object
§ 71. The most usual position of the direct object is that immediately after the predicate verb it refers to.
Then he found her in the hall.
The direct object is separated from the predicate verb in the following cases:
1. If there is a non-prepositional indirect recipient object to the same verb in the sentence. In this case the direct object follows the indirect one.
I never told him anything.
Note:
The direct object may come before the non-prepositional indirect object if it is the pronoun it, and the indirect object is any other personal pronoun.
I never told it him.
Give it me, will you?
2. If the direct object is modified by a phrase or a clause. In this case it may be separated from the verb by a prepositional indirect non-recipient object or an adverbial.
Ged had kept for his winter journey the cloak lined with fur.
He took into his hands a small beast.
3. If the direct object is expressed by a noun or a pronoun (except a personal pronoun) referring to a phrasal predicate verb consisting of a verbal part and a postposition such as about, back, down, in, off, on, out, over, through, up.
He laid down his stick.
Ged took off his cloak that was heavy with water.
With most of those verbs, however, the direct object may also precede the adverb.
He laid down his stick. = He laid his stick down.
If expressed by a personal pronoun, the direct object always precedes the postposition.
He laid down his stick. = He laid it down.