VERBS WITH DIRECT AND INDIRECT OBJECTS

GRAMMAR RULES

In English, verbs can be followed by two types of objects. For examples:
I sent Lucy come flowers. (Indirect object: whom a sent the flowers).
I sent some flowers to Lucy. (Direct object: what I sent).



The changeable word order in English sentences

1. If the indirect object comes first in a sentence, there is no preposition.
They gave Harold a new car.
Mrs. Thompson offered the girls cookies.
My grandma always wishes me good luck.

2. If it comes second, a preposition must be used.
They gave a new car to Harold.
Mrs Jones offered a cake to the girls.
My grandma always wishes a good luck to me.

3. If the direct object is a pronoun (it, this ... ), it comes first and we must use a preposition. Compare the difference in the following examples.

I bought it for my sister.
Can you send it to him?
I'll get it for you as soon as I can.(Not: I bought my sister it. Can you send him it? I'll get you it as soon as I can.)