Active Sentences with Two Objects made Passive
Two objects in an active sentences – two possible passive sentences
Some verbs such as: ask, give, offer, teach, tell, lend, promise, sell, throw, can have two objects.
When there are two objects in an active sentence then there are two possible active sentences and two possible passive sentences.
- Sentence 1: Peter gave Susan a flower
- Sentence 2: Peter gave a flower to Susan.
There are two objects in each of the following sentences:
- Object 1 = indirect object → Susan
- Object 2 = direct object → a flower
An indirect object is very often a person, a direct object a thing. When a direct object is followed by an indirect one, we put to in front of the indirect object.
Active sentence 1
| Subject | Verb | indirect Object | direct Object |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peter | gave | Susan | a flower. |
Active sentence 2
| Subject | Verb | direct Object | indirect Object with to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peter | gave | a flower | to Susan. |
Each of the objects (flower/Susan) in the active sentences can become subject in the passive sentence.
Passive sentence 1
| Subject | Verb | Object | (by-agent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Susan | was given | a flower. | (by Peter). |
Passive sentence 2
| Subject | Verb | Object | (by-agent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A flower | was given | to Susan | (by Peter). |