[START POINT ] Interactions between infants will often copy parental speech. (transitive) Fetch me your hat. (transitive) Infants ure keen to interact with others. (intransitive) Some verbs (transitive verbs, e.g. copy) are followed by an object. Some of these verbs can be followed by two objects (e.g. fetch). Usually the first object (the indirect object) is a person or group of people and the second object (the direct object) is a thing. Some verbs (intransitive verbs, e.g. interact) are not followed by an object, and can’t have a passive form. (See Appendix 8.1-8.3.) 1 Verbs with two objects After many verbs with two objects, we can reverse the order of the objects if we put for or to before the indirect object: T recently bought my two-year-old daughter a cuddly elephant. or Trecenily bought a cuddly elephant for my two-year-old daughter. A child might offer their mother some food. or A child might offer some food to their mother. We often use this pattern to focus particular attention on the indirect object or when the indirect object is much longer than the direct object: She lent the book to one of the students who asked for some additional reading. (not Shelent-one-of the-studenss-who-asked_for-some-additional reading the book.) We use for + indirect object with verbs such as build, find and get: Go to the toy box and find the car for me. or Go to the toy box and find me the car. We use to + indirect object with verbs such as give, offer and show: She gave a toy to me. or She gave me a toy. We can use either for or to + indirect object with verbs such as play, read and write. Often there is a difference in meaning: I couldn't find her email address, so I had to write a letter to her. She was too young to write herself, so I wrote the letter for her. (= instead of her) Sometimes the meaning is very simil: Reading stories for / to young children is an important part of this process. Some verbs with two objects cannot have their objects reversed with for / to, including ask, guarantee and refuse: Most parents ask themselves the question: ‘Did they copy that from us?’ (not ... ask-the-question- for Lo-themselves ...) (> See Appendix 8.4-8.6.) If the direct object is a pronoun, we usually use direct object + for / 10 + indirect object: I bought it for my daughter. Give it to me. A While I bought my daughter it and Give me it might be heard in informal speech, this pattern is usually considered to be bad style and should be avoided in writing. 82