Language/French/Grammar/French-Ditransitive-verbs

Ditransitive verbs & the question of attribution complement

Rule

Certain linguistic theories breaking with traditional grammar consider that a verb, then qualified as ditransitive, can accept 2 object complements, called direct object complement, “complément d'objet direct” in French (COD) and second object complement, “complément d'objet second “ in French (COS).

• Elle donne une pomme à son frère

She gives an apple to her brother

→ Ditransitif, because "une pomme" (an apple) is COD and "son frère" (her brother) is COS.

Traditional French grammar strongly rejects this analysis: it considers that the "complement of secondary object" is generally nothing other than a complement of attribution.

• Elle donne une pomme à son frère

She gives an apple to her brother

→ Direct transitive, because “une pomme” (an apple) is a complement of a direct object (only object of the gift) and “à son frère” (to her brother) is a complement of attribution.

Examples

See: French Ditransitive Verbs Examples

Sources

• https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitivit%C3%A9_(grammaire)