Direct versus indirect complements
There is a good explanation in Session 20 of Level 5 Italian of how to use direct and indirect complements. What I am still having trouble with, however, is how to apply them. Direct complements answer who/what and indirect complements answer to/for whom. My confusion is primarily with the indirect complements. For example, in the phrase "la vedo" (I see her), "la" is a direct complement and so "la" replaces "mia sorella" in the original phrase. In the phrase "le puoi domandare" (can (you(i)) ask her), "le" is an indirect complement and so "le" replaces "a Sandra" in the original phrase. I don't understand the difference as to why "her" in the first phrase is a direct complement and "her" in the second phrase is an indirect complement. They both immediately follow the verb. It is not like the sentence "the lawyer brought him the documents" but which could basically be rearranged to say "the lawyer brought the documents to him." In this case, "the documents" constitutes the direct complement while "him" is the indirect complement. Can someone please explain the different in the first two phrases I described? Can it also depend on which verb is being used? Grazie mille!
Status:
Open Jan 26, 2017 - 03:25 PM
Italian