The indirect object (□) is a person or thing for whom something is done in the sentence. Indirect objects only appear in sentences which contain a direct object. The indirect object is placed after the subject (x) and the verb (o) and in front of the direct object (∆) in sentences with normal word order. If we want to accentuate the indirect object, it is placed at the beginning of the sentence, and inversion is used.
Normal word order:
Pigen
giver
ham
en bog.
The girl
gives
him
a book.
x
o
□
∆
x
o
□
∆
Inversion:
Ham
giver
pigen
en bog.
The girl
gives
a book
to
him.
□
o
x
∆
x
o
∆
□
Comparison:
The indirect object is placed in the same way in English and in Danish. The indirect object cannot normally be placed at the beginning of the sentence.
8 Ordstilling
8.5 Ordstilling i sætninger med hensynsled
Hensynsleddet (□) er leddet i sætningen for hvem noget gøres. Der er kun et hensynsled, hvis der også er et genstandsled i sætningen. Hensynsleddet står efter grundleddet (x) og udsagnsleddet (o) og foran genstandsleddet (∆) i sætninger med ligefrem ordstilling. Hvis man vil fremhæve hensynsleddet, står det først i sætningen, og der bliver omvendt ordstilling.
