1. She bought a new laptop.
→ T (transitive; “a new laptop” is the direct object)
2. The baby cried loudly. → I (intransitive; no object)
3. He sent an email to his teacher. → T (transitive; “an email” is the direct object)
4. They laughed at the joke. → I (intransitive; “at the joke” is a prepositional phrase, not a
direct object)
5. I read the book yesterday. → T (transitive; “the book” is the direct object)
6. The sun rises in the east. → I (intransitive; no object)
7. We watched a movie last night. → T (transitive; “a movie” is the direct object)
8. Birds fly in the sky. → I (intransitive; no object)
9. She gave her friend a gift. → T (transitive; “a gift” is the direct object, “her friend” is
indirect)
10. He slept for eight hours. → I (intransitive; no object)
11. The teacher explained the lesson clearly. → T (transitive; “the lesson” is the direct
object)
12. The children played in the park. → I (intransitive; no object)
13. I lost my keys this morning. → T (transitive; “my keys” is the direct object)
14. The flowers bloomed in spring. → I (intransitive; no object)
15. He wrote a letter to his grandmother. → T (transitive; “a letter” is the direct object)
I sent a postcard to my friend.
She gave a gift to her mother.
He explained the rules to the students.
We bought flowers for our teacher.
They offered the job to him.
I showed the photos to my grandparents.
She prepared a surprise for her best friend.
He wrote an email to the manager.
The nurse gave the medicine to the patient.
We told the story to the children.
I reserved a table for my parents.
She baked a cake for her friend’s birthday.
• (Given example)
I lent my cousin my e-book reader.
• Marie bought the latest smartphone for her husband.
➡ Marie bought her husband the latest smartphone.
• Mike sent the new product design to his boss.
➡ Mike sent his boss the new product design.
• Did you leave the new Internet password for me?
➡ Did you leave me the new Internet password?
• Eva e-mailed her homework assignment to her professor.
➡ Eva e-mailed her professor her homework assignment.
• Diane showed the article about robots to her friend.
➡ Diane showed her friend the article about robots.
• My parents got a new tablet for me.
➡ My parents got me a new tablet.
• I gave the files to my coworker.
➡ I gave my coworker the files.
1. "I told to you" → "I told you"
tell is transitive; it does not take to before the indirect object.
2. "They show for you the same information" → "They show you the same information"
show takes the indirect object without for.
3. "Her parents got a pair her" → "Her parents got her a pair"
The indirect object comes before the direct object without for.
4. "Can you explain me it?" → "Can you explain it to me?"
explain is transitive and requires to before the indirect object.
5. "give a headache to me" (word order) → "give me a headache"
When using give, we normally place the indirect object right after the verb.
6. "lend to me yours" → "lend me yours"
lend does not take to before the indirect object.