Can infinitives function as the direct object after ditransitives?
Please give me some examples.
Their fathers advise them to study.
They asked me to bring some food.
Could you ask her to copy this letter for me?
She begged him not to leave her.
They believe him to be dangerous.
The colonel commanded his men to charge.
You've convinced the director of the program to change her
position.He encouraged his friends to vote for him.
In the above sentences, do the infinitive phrases (in bold) function as direct objects or object complements?
Best Answer
Any "ditransitive verb", or verb taking two objects (one direct, one indirect) is going to mean something similar to "give."
The direct object is "the ball" and the indirect object is "her."
There is no infinitive you can subsititue for "the ball" that would make any sense. In all cases, a listener/reader will expect a noun/noun phrase after "to.'
The -ing form of a verb can be used, though.
However, most of the examples you've provided aren't commonly used this way and sound very strange if you try this. At the very least there will be some sense of "detachment" which is probably not what you want to say most of the time. You should avoid it.
This sounds OK.
This isn't too bad.
This sounds very awkward. Don't use it.
This is extremely bad and hard to understand.