The Secondary Parts of The Sentence: (Maugham)
The Secondary Parts of The Sentence: (Maugham)
THE OBJECT
§ 22. The object is a secondary part of the sentence which completes or restricts the meaning of a
verb or sometimes an adjective, a word denoting state, or a noun.
He had never liked Soames. He now held him responsible for Bosinney’s death. (Galsworthy)
...she’s alone in the world, and she must have someone to take care of her.
(Maugham)
Here we must mention the peculiar use of the pronoun it in the function of an object, similar to its
use in the function of the subject. Sometimes the pronoun it is used as a real (notional) object.
She pulled out a cigarette and let it dangle between her lips unlighted.
(Wilson)
But sometimes it only introduces a real object expressed by an infinitive or gerundial phrase or by a
subordinate clause. In this case it is a formal introductory object which is not translated into Russian. The
formal it is characteristic of literary style and is mostly used after certain verbs followed by adjectives
(sometimes nouns). Here belong such verbs as to think, to find, to consider, to make etc.
сумму.
She made it clear from the beginning that she had come with Bing.
(Sanborn)
In old times nomadic tribes when moving to another place left the dying
behind.
When he saw someone come toward them, he avoided him neatly. (Sanborn)
The old woman held the child tight and waited for the storm to pass.
(Dickens)
I remember seeing you at the opening of the Transport workers summer club.
(Shaw)
Through the door in the hall leading to the basement he called “Hsst!” several
times... (Galsworthy)
They all approved of his not being beaten by that cousin of his. (Galsworthy)
8. A group of words which is one part of the sentence, i. e. a syntactically indivisible group.
But it was only Mrs. Bunting who asked for a pinch of salt. (Lindsay)
The direct object is used after transitive verbs with which it is closely connected as it denotes a
person or thing directly affected by the action of the verb. It is used without any preposition.
If we compare Russian and English we shall see that in English there are more verbs taking a direct
object than in Russian. This is due to the loss of case inflexions in English, the result of which is that the old
Accusative and Dative have assumed the same form.
Thus, if a transitive verb takes only one object expressed by a noun or pronoun without a preposition,
it is always a direct object.
Consequently very often the indirect object in Russian corresponds to the direct object in English.
It should be kept in mind that sometimes the prepositional object in Russian also corresponds to the
direct object in English.
There are a few English verbs which can have two direct objects.
The indirect object denotes a living being to whom the action of the verb is directed. There are also
cases when it denotes a thing.
1. The indirect object of the first type, which expresses the addressee of the action.
It is used with transitive verbs which take a direct object, so it hardly ever stands alone.
Compare:
Thus, when translating into English such Russian sentences as дайте мне, покажите мне, a direct
object must be introduced, otherwise the sentence either has no meaning at all, or its meaning is changed
altogether.
N o t e. — There are three verbs which may take an indirect object without
any direct object. In this case the indirect object is used with the preposition
There is, however, a tendency in Modern English to use no preposition with the verb to write.
Write me as often as you can.
As a rule the indirect object comes before the direct object. In this case it is used without a
preposition.
Much upset and without hope now she sent Soames the telegram. (Galsworthy)
When the direct object precedes the indirect object, the latter is used chiefly with the preposition to
and sometimes for. These prepositions make the indirect object more prominent.
But sometimes we cannot change the order of words at will, namely when the direct object is a
pronoun and the indirect object, a noun. In this case the indirect object follows the direct object.
When the direct object is expressed by the pronoun it, it always precedes the indirect object.
Give it to him.
In colloquial speech, when the indirect object is a pronoun, the preposition to is often not used: Give
it him, b u t: Give it to Mary.
There are a number of verbs after which the indirect object is used with the preposition to even when
it comes before the direct object. These are: to explain, to dictate, to suggest, to relate, to announce, to
ascribe, to attribute, to communicate, to introduce, to submit, to repeat, to dedicate, to disclose, to
interpret, to point out.
Sometimes in the privacy of his bedroom James would reveal to Emily the
I shall dictate to you the names of books to be read for your examination.
He is not very bright, I attribute to his diligence the progress he has made in
This order of words is mostly found when the direct object is modified by an extended attribute.
2. The indirect object of the second type, which is more frequently used with intransitive verbs than
with transitive ones and which does not always express the addressee of the action.
Here lies one of the points of its difference from the indirect object of the first type which is used
with or without a preposition depending upon its place with regard to the direct object. The indirect object
of the second type can be called the prepositional indirect object. So in the sentence She bought a piece of
embroidery for me — for me is an indirect object, whereas in the sentence She did this piece of embroidery
for me — for me is a prepositional indirect object. In contrast to the indirect object of the first type, which is
used only with the preposition to and seldom for, the use of the prepositional indirect object is not
confined to any definite set of prepositions. Thus it can be used with any preposition.
The prepositional indirect object is used not only with verbs but also with adjectives, words denoting
state, and nouns of verbal origin.
Yates’s mind was like a caldron in which boiled the general tension in town,
The phrase of getting to Yasha can be treated both as an attribute and as a prepositional indirect
object.
§ 27. The complex object.
The direct and the prepositional indirect object may be simple and complex.
The complex object consists of two components, of which the second stands in predicate relation to
the first. The two components form an indivisible unit and consequently must be regarded as one part of
the sentence. The complex object can be non-prepositional and prepositional.
Thus these two waited with impatience for the three years to be over. (Buck)
The first component of the complex object is a noun in the common case or in the possessive case, a
personal pronoun in the-objective case, or a possessive pronoun; the second is an infinitive, a participle, a
gerund, seldom a noun, an adjective, a word denoting state, or a prepositional phrase.
He could see the man and Great Beaver talking together. (London)
complex object, but the connection between its two elements is not close
enough to make them one part of the sentence; so while the complex object
can nearly always be extended into an object Clause; the direct object with its
E.g. He felt himself unusually on edge can be changed into He felt that he was
unusually on edge, but They left him alone cannot be changed in the same
way.
All the predicative constructions when used in the function of an object due to their structure form a
complex object. Thus we have a complex object expressed by a participial construction, a gerundial
construction, an Objective-with-the-Infinitive Construction and a for-to-Infinitive Construction.
Dick found himself walking in the direction of his friend Mike’s place.
(Lindsay)
My lady assures him of his being worth no complaint from her. (Dickens)
“Well,” said Soames, “I want you to come out to the Stores, with me, and
There is a special kind of object in English which has the following peculiarities.
2. It is expressed by a noun which is either of the same root as the verb or is similar to it in meaning.
3. It is almost regularly attended by an attribute with which it forms a combination that is close in
meaning to an adverbial modifier: to live a happy life — to live happily.
The cognate object is generally used in such combinations as: to smile a sad smile, to laugh a bitter
laugh, to die a violent death, etc.
That night the roused forces of Good and Evil fought their terrible fight for
за ее душу.
For the next four days he lived a simple and blameless life on thin captain’s
biscuits. (Jerome)