What is a ditransitive verb?

A ditransitive verb can take both an indirect object and a direct object. For example, in the sentence “Luis brought Sam a soda,” “brought” is ditransitive. “Sam” is the indirect object, and “soda” is the direct object.

Some common ditransitive verbs are:

  • Bring
  • Send
  • Buy
  • Ask
  • Loan
  • Give
  • Tell
  • Show
  • Hand

Note that most ditransitive verbs are also sometimes used as transitive verbs (i.e., with a direct object only).