Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Objects
Hi,
"We must focus our attention on the question of reducing costs" [From the Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs by Rosemary Courtney.]
The transitive verb "focus on" has two objects in this sentence: a direct object and an indirect one.
My question is: is the "question of reducing costs" a direct object and "our attention" an indirect one?
Thank you.
"We must focus our attention on the question of reducing costs" [From the Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs by Rosemary Courtney.]
The transitive verb "focus on" has two objects in this sentence: a direct object and an indirect one.
My question is: is the "question of reducing costs" a direct object and "our attention" an indirect one?
Thank you.
Top answer
The answer may depend on who replies. There are many ways to parse a sentence. In my grammatical thinking, there is no indirect object in the sentence.
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The answer may depend on who replies. There are many ways to parse a sentence. In my grammatical thinking, there is no indirect object in the sentence.
AnonymousWe must focus our attention on the question of reducing costsOur attention is the direct object of fo
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Hi,
Thank you, CB, for your reply. The problem is that the author of the dictionary qualifies "focus on v prep " ['to direct (something such as one's thoughts) firmly on (a subject)] as "a transitive verb with two objects: a direct noun object and a noun indirect object" I think that I miss something here, especially with the position of the modifier 'noun' in both phrases:
Thank you, CB, for your reply. The problem is that the author of the dictionary qualifies "focus on v prep " ['to direct (something such as one's thoughts) firmly on (a subject)] as "a transitive verb with two objects: a direct noun object and a noun indirect object" I think that I miss something here, especially with the position of the modifier 'noun' in both phrases:
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