Definition:
A ditransitive verb is a verb that takes three arguments: a subject (agent), a direct object (theme — the thing transferred), and an indirect object (recipient or goal — the entity receiving it). The prototypical ditransitive is “give”: “She [agent] gave him [recipient] a book [theme].”
In-Depth Explanation
Ditransitive verbs describe events involving transfer — of objects, information, or possession — from an agent to a recipient:
| Language | Example | Agent | Recipient | Theme |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | “She gave him a book” | She | him | a book |
| Japanese | 彼女は彼に本をあげた | 彼女は | 彼に | 本を |
| English | “He told her a story” | He | her | a story |
| Japanese | 彼は彼女に話を聞かせた | 彼は | 彼女に | 話を |
Common ditransitive verbs:
- Transfer of possession: give, send, lend, offer, show, hand
- Communication: tell, teach, ask, write (someone a letter)
- Creation for someone: make, bake, cook, build (someone something)
Ditransitives in Japanese:
Japanese marks the three arguments with particles:
- Agent: は (wa) / が (ga)
- Recipient: に (ni)
- Theme: を (wo)
先生が学生に本をあげた。(The teacher gave the student a book.)
Japanese ditransitives interact heavily with the giving/receiving verb system (あげる/くれる/もらう), which encodes social relationships and perspective — a unique feature that goes far beyond simple argument structure. The choice of giving verb depends on who benefits and the speaker’s perspective, making Japanese ditransitive constructions a key area for pragmatic competence.
English ditransitive verbs participate in the double-object construction and the dative alternation, which have no direct parallel in Japanese.
Related Terms
See Also
Research
- Goldberg, A. E. (1995). Constructions: A Construction Grammar Approach to Argument Structure. University of Chicago Press. — Influential constructionist analysis of the ditransitive construction.