_Book_, naming the thing acted upon,
they call the _direct_ object; and _me_, naming the person toward whom the
act is directed, they call the +indirect+, or _dative_, +object+.
You see that _me_ and _book_ do not, like _Cornwallis_ and _army_, in
_Washington captured Cornwallis and his army_, form a compound object
complement; they cannot be connected by a conjunction, for they do not
stand in the same relation to the verb _gave_. The meaning is not, He gave
me _and_ the book.
We treat these indirect objects, which generally denote the person to or
for whom something is done, as equivalent to phrase modifiers. If we change
the order of the words, a preposition must be supplied; as, He gave a book
_to me_. He bought _me_ a _book_; He bought a book _for me_. He asked _me_
a _question_; He asked a _question of me_. When the indirect object
precedes the direct, no preposition is expressed or understood.
_Teach, tell, send, promise, permit_, and _lend_ are other examples of
verbs that take indirect objects.
Besides these indirect objects, +nouns denoting measure+, quantity, weight,
time, value, distance, or direction are often used adverbially, being
equivalent to phrase modifiers. We walked four _miles_ an _hour_; It weighs
one _pound_; It is worth a _dollar_ a _yard_; I went _home_ that _way_; The
wall is ten _feet_ six _inches_ high.
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