Ditransitive - Definition and Overview

In grammar, a ditransitive verb is a verb which takes a subject and two objects (normally a direct object and an indirect object). Some examples involving ditransitive verbs include:

• He gave Mary ten dollars
• He passed Paul the ball
• Jean read him the books
• She is baking him a cake

These sentences can be written alternately with a preposition as:

• He gave ten dollars to Mary
• He passed the ball to Paul
• Jean read the books to him
• She is baking a cake for him

In some cases the first form sounds wrong or at least unusual:

• He gave me it vs. He gave it to me
• I reported you the problem vs. I reported the problem to you

And in some cases the second form sounds wrong:

• Give me a chance vs. Give a chance to me
• Let's catch us some fish vs. Let's catch some fish for us

Most of these rules are arbitrary and are learnt only with experience by native speakers.

Many ditransitive verbs have a passive voice form which can take a direct object. Contrast the active and two forms of the passive:

• Jean gave the books to him
• The books were given to him by Jean
• He was given the books by Jean

See also transitive verb and intransitive verb.