Learn English Patterns and More

Today let’s look at another very common pattern in the English language. This pattern is one that will later help you understand “voice” – the active versus the passive voice. Save that for later. The last pattern had one object but this pattern has two objects – the direct object and the indirect object. Look at the sentences and you will see that indirect object receives the direct object.

Person + action + indirect object + direct object

The nurse gave the patient medicine.
Teachers give students their grades.
The mailman gave me the letter.

That’s the simple story. Check out some longer sentences using the same patterns.

Person + action + indirect object + direct object (and) person + action + indirect object + direct object

The nurse gave the patient medicine and she gave the doctor the report.

(After) person + action + indirect object + direct object, person + action + indirect object + direct object

After the teacher gave the students grades, the parents gave the students a reward.

Idiom for the day

.....bite your tongue….

You should bite your tongue if you are going to say something that is harmful or stupid. You might want to say something but it is not a good idea so you bite your tongue.

Example: I wanted to tell her that her outfit looked terrible but I bit my tongue.
Even if you think he should discipline his child, you probably should bite
your tongue because most people don’t like criticism.

Synonyms for the Day

Some new synonyms – old, ancient, antique, antediluvian

(A special note – antediluvian basically means “before the flood” which is from an ancient religious story of the flood that covered civilization thousands of years ago. In other words, this means very, very old.)

Examples: The old teacher makes lots of mistakes.

The ancient ruins were uncovered by archaeologists.
The antique chair was worth millions of dollars.
The man looked so old he seemed to be antediluvian.

Regards,
Barbara92106
www.languagecommunicator.com