Transitive Verbs 2

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Pattern 4

Sentence Pattern 4

The fourth pattern adds to the third pattern another complement (an element after the verb), called an indirect object:

     Parents give their children [indirect object] names [direct object].

Let us summarize Pattern 4 this way: S + Vt + I.O. + D.O., where "I.O." stands for "indirect object" and "D.O. stands for "direct object." Note that the indirect object can be expressed in a prepositional phrase ("to + I.O." or "for + I.O."), but when no preposition is provided, the I.O always precedes the D.O. so that we can tell them apart.