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Unit 96 · Word order

Give me that book! Give it to me!

Study

A

After these verbs (give / lend / pass / send / show), there are two possible structures:

give something to somebody

›

I gave the keys to Sarah.

give somebody something

›

I gave Sarah the keys.

B

give something to somebody

something to somebody
That's my book. Give it to me.
These are Sue's keys. Can you give them to her?
Can you give these flowers to your mother?
I lent my car to a friend of mine.
Did you send the money to Kate?
We've seen these photos. You showed them to us.
C

give somebody something

somebody something
Give me that book. It's mine.
Tom gave his mother some flowers.
I lent Joe some money.
How much money did you lend him?
I sent you an email. Did you get it?
Nicola showed us her holiday photos.
Can you pass me the salt, please?

You can also say 'buy / get somebody something':

›

I bought my mother some flowers. (= I bought some flowers for my mother.)

›

I'm going to the shop. Can I get you anything? (= get anything for you)

D

You can say:

›

I gave the keys to Sarah. and I gave Sarah the keys. (but not I gave to Sarah the keys)

›

That's my book. Can you give it to me? and Can you give me that book? (but not Can you give to me that book?)

We prefer the first structure (give something to somebody) with it or them:

›

I gave it to her. (not I gave her it)

›

Here are the keys. Give them to your father. (not Give your father them)

Exercises (4)

0/4 exercises checked
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96.1

Mark had some things that he didn't want. He gave them to different people. Write sentences beginning He gave ... .

  1. 1
    What did Mark do with the armchair? example
  2. 2
    What did he do with the tennis racket? He gave
  3. 3
    What happened to the books? He
  4. 4
    What about the lamp?
  5. 5
    What did he do with the pictures?
  6. 6
    And the ladder?
96.2

You gave presents to your friends. You decided to give them the things in the pictures. Write a sentence for each person.

  1. 1A book given as a present
    example
  2. 2A potted plant given as a present
    I gave
  3. 3A necktie given as a present
    I
  4. 4A box of chocolates given as a present
  5. 5A bouquet of flowers given as a present
  6. 6A wallet given as a present
96.3

Write questions beginning Can you give me ... ? / Can you pass me ... ? etc.

  1. 1
    (you want the salt) (pass)
    example
  2. 2
    (you need an umbrella) (lend)
    Can you
  3. 3
    (you want my address) (give)
    Can your
  4. 4
    (you need twenty pounds) (lend)
  5. 5
    (you want more information) (send)
  6. 6
    (you want to see the letter) (show)
96.4

Which is right?

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7