16.8 put direct object before indirect object The direct object is the thing given or received. The indirect object (in bold in the table below) is the thing that the direct object is given to or received by. Look at the position of the direct object and indirect object in this sentence The authors sent their manuscript to the journal .” Thus, the normal word order is (1) subject ( the authors ), (2) verb ( sent ), (3) direct object ( their manuscript ), (4) preposition ( to ), (5) indirect object ( the journal ) . 1. The kind of construction outlined above is often found with verbs followed by to and with.Examples associate X with Y, apply X to Y, attribute X to Y, consign X to Y, give X to Y (or give Y X, introduce X to Y, send X to Y (or send Y X ) 2. If the direct object is very long and consists of a series of items, you can put the indirect object after the first item and then use along with. 3. As an alternative to rule 2, you can use a colon to introduce a list. 4. Not all sciences respect rule 1, and particularly in mathematical sciences you may find the indirect object before the direct object. YES NO 1 We can separate P and Q with this tool . We can separate, with this tool , P and Q. With this tool we can separate P and Q. 1 We can associate a high cost with these values . We can associate with these values a high cost. 2 We can associate a high cost with these values , along with higher overheads, a significant increase in man hours and several other problems. We can associate with these valuesa high cost, higher overheads, a significant increase in man hours and several other problems 3 We can associate several factors with these values : a high cost, higher overheads, … 4 This is a rule that associates with
