16.

1 Word order
Sentence structure.

[00:00:01] I put this section at the end because if you've been following this course from
beginning to end, I've basically explained all of the sentence structure, all of the word order that
you need in English.

[00:00:12] After this section is also more of the complex sentence structure, which is clauses,
conjunctions, as well as conditional sentences.

[00:00:20] But let's review sentence structure and word order a little bit more right now, as well
as looking at objects: indirect and direct.

[00:00:27] Subject plus verb plus object.

[00:00:30] The subject usually comes before the transitive verb or action. And the verb or action
is followed by an object.

[00:00:39] I like science.

[00:00:41] The subject is I, verb like, and the object is science.

[00:00:46] She never wears green clothes.

[00:00:49] The subject is she, adverbs like never are explained in the adjectives and adverbs
section, and then we have our verb wear and our object, clothes.

[00:00:59] They're going to borrow some flour.

[00:01:02] The subject is they, the verb is borrow, and the object is flour.

[00:01:06] Place and time.

[00:01:08] Where and when something happens will come after the subject and verb. The place
answering the question where, normally comes before the time. The time answering the
question when, usually comes after the place.

[00:01:22] This is the most common structure, but I go in much more detail about this in the
adverbs lecture.

[00:01:29] We go to school every day.

[00:01:30] This is subject-verb location time.

[00:01:33] You have been working at the same company for 30 years.

[00:01:37] This is subject you, been working, location is the company, and time for 30 years.
[00:01:43] I never eat a big breakfast in the morning.

[00:01:46] We have the general same structure subject-verb time. But now we also have an
adverb of time, never between the subject and verb, like I said before go to the adverb and
adjective section to learn a lot more about these adverbs, as well as where to put them in a
sentence.

[00:02:03] Indirect objects.

[00:02:05] Indirect objects cause the order of sentences to change a little bit. An indirect object
is something or someone that is affected by the action of the transitive verb, but not the
primary object of the verb. Orders and commands the imperative often have indirect objects.
Let's look at some examples.

[00:02:24] Give him the money.

[00:02:25] The object of give is the money. And indirectly we give the money to him. Oftentimes
to indicates an indirect object.

[00:02:35] They showed me the damage.

[00:02:37] What's the direct object? What did they show? It's the damage, and they showed it
to me.

[00:02:43] Now. Let's look at two general rules for word order when using sentences with
indirect objects.

[00:02:50] Indirect objects with to or for.

[00:02:53] Here the word order becomes subject, verb, direct object and then indirect object.
And to or for will come before the indirect object.

[00:03:03] I gave it to him.

[00:03:05] This is subject. I verb gave. Direct object it. And then indirect object him.

[00:03:11] They paid fifty dollars to the store clerk.

[00:03:14] Subject they. Verb paid. The direct object $50, and then the indirect object, the store
clerk.

[00:03:22] We finish the project for her.

[00:03:24] This is the subject we, the verb is finished. The direct object is the project and the
indirect object is her.

[00:03:32] Indirect object without to or for.

[00:03:36] Now the word order becomes subject, verb, indirect object and then direct object.
Now, we don't have to or for. Before they clearly showed us where the indirect object was.
Instead the indirect object almost seems to be in the direct object position compared to before.
But you have to ask yourself, who or what is the direct object of this action? And who or what is
the indirect object of this action? Some examples compared to the previous structure.

[00:04:05] Let's present him the prize.

[00:04:07] We're not presenting a person. We are presenting the prize to someone. So we can
also say let's present the prize to him.

[00:04:14] Give him the money.

[00:04:16] We're not giving someone we are giving money to someone. With indirect objects,
we often have this choice. It's also the imperative. So we don't put the subject before give. If
you haven't learned the imperative, you can find the imperative much earlier in this course.

[00:04:32] Demand her the money!

[00:04:34] Another imperative. It's an order. So it's verb, indirect object and then direct object.
This is an example of how this order of indirect object and then direct object can sound strange.
It's usually safer to use the other order, which here would be, demand the money from her. It
makes it clearer, more obvious what we're talking about.