[Grammar] When to use me or to me?

[Claudio.teaching.abroad]

[FONT=&quot]Hello all,

I am relatively new teacher and have been asked a question which I can't answer.


Marker sentences:

She gave me the book.

She gave the book to me.


I'm struggling to understand the rules for using me or to me in relation to position in the sentence and use of the preposition or not.

I've tried to look on the Internet and I suspect it's something to do with either prepositional verbs, the direct/indirect object and/or the position of the preposition in the sentence, but I just can't figure it out! :-|

P.s. if there's also a website which explains about subjects, objects, direct/indirect objects and other sentence components this would help greatly! :up:

Many thanks, regards,
Claudio. [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

 

[2010]

[FONT=&quot]Hello all, [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I am relatively new teacher and have been asked a question which I can't answer. [/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]Marker sentences:[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]She gave me the book.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]She gave the book to me.[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]I'm struggling to understand the rules for using me or to me in relation to position in the sentence and use of the preposition or not. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I've tried to look on the Internet and I suspect it's something to do with either prepositional verbs, the direct/indirect object and/or the position of the preposition in the sentence, but I just can't figure it out! :-|[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]P.s. if there's also a website which explains about subjects, objects, direct/indirect objects and other sentence components this would help greatly! :up:[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Many thanks, regards, [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Claudio. [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

===Not a teacher===

[FONT=&quot]Who gave you the book?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]She gave me the book.[/FONT]

Did she give the book to you?
[FONT=&quot]Yes, She gave the book to me.[/FONT]

This is one of the websites I prefer:
Guide to Grammar and Writing

My explanation may not be the best but I just wanted to share my thoughts. Let's see what an expert has to say!

 

[Claudio.teaching.abroad]

Thanks for the help. Can anyone else offer any explanations? I'm still not clear about this. Thank you!! ;-)

 

[Barb_D]

[Subject] [verb] [direct object] to the [indirect object].
[Subject] [verb] [indirect object] [direct object].

NOTE that when the direct object is a pronoun, this doesn't work.

I gave the ball to the referee.
I gave the referee the ball.

I gave the ball to him.
I gave him the ball.

I gave it to the referee.
*I gave the referee it. -- Not this one.

Except for the one with the *, all are fine and have the same meaning. Use whichever version you prefer.

If you need to have a long noun phrase as either the direct object or the indirect object, I'd suggest putting it last.

"I gave the letter to the girl with the long blonde hair wearing the green sweater" is better than "I gave the girl with the long blonde hair wearing the green sweater the letter."

 

[emsr2d2]

[FONT=&quot]Hello all,

I am relatively new teacher and have been asked a question which I can't answer.


Marker sentences:

She gave me the book.

She gave the book to me.


I'm struggling to understand the rules for using me or to me in relation to position in the sentence and use of the preposition or not.

I've tried to look on the Internet and I suspect it's something to do with either prepositional verbs, the direct/indirect object and/or the position of the preposition in the sentence, but I just can't figure it out! :-|

P.s. if there's also a website which explains about subjects, objects, direct/indirect objects and other sentence components this would help greatly! :up:

Many thanks, regards,
Claudio. [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

I notice that you are teaching in Barcelona, presumably teaching Spaniards! I teach in Madrid and have found that my students seem to find "He gave me the book" much easier to remember, perhaps because in Spanish they are far more likely to say "Me dio el libro" than "Él dio el libro a mi".

However, I always like to try and make things more challenging for them and ask them to give both versions.

As far as which to use when, I agree with BarbD (as usual!)

 

[Claudio.teaching.abroad]

Great, that makes it very clear now! Really appreciate the help, thanks!!