grammar question

[Cecilia Teh]

What is the reason why this sentence is incorrect? "Ming Hua gives his rabbit to eat a carrot." My daughter's original sentence, "Ming Hua gives his rabbit a carrot to eat." was marked wrong by her teacher. The teacher's sentence is the incorrect one above. I need to explain to the teacher why the teacher's sentence is wrong.

[Raymott]

What is the reason why this sentence is incorrect? "Ming Hua gives his rabbit to eat a carrot." My daughter's original sentence, "Ming Hua gives his rabbit a carrot to eat." was marked wrong by her teacher. The teacher's sentence is the incorrect one above. I need to explain to the teacher why the teacher's sentence is wrong.

"a carrot" is the direct object of "gives". Ming Hua gives a carrot.
"his rabbit" is the indirect object of "gives". Ming Hua gives to his rabbit.
Put them together and you get:
"Ming Hua gives his rabbit a carrot.
"to eat" is a to-infinitive which is added on to explain the purpose of Ming Hua giving his rabbit a carrot:
"Ming Hua gives his rabbit a carrot to eat."
That's all basic, and the sentence is correct.
However, the teacher's sentence "Ming Hua gives his rabbit to eat a carrot." has only one object (indirect) and a to-clause. This is OK for verbs such as allow, permit, which do not take a direct object. eg.
"Ming Hua allows his rabbit to eat a carrot."
"Ming Hua permits his rabbit to eat a carrot."
But "give" requires two objects, a direct, and an indirect one.

[2006]

What is the reason why this sentence is incorrect? "Ming Hua gives his rabbit to eat a carrot." My daughter's original sentence, "Ming Hua gives his rabbit a carrot to eat." was marked wrong by her teacher. The teacher's sentence is the incorrect one above. I need to explain to the teacher why the teacher's sentence is wrong.

Tell the teacher that the direct object "a carrot" must come before "to eat". Said in another way, the direct object "a carrot" must come immediately after the indirect object "his rabbit".