A Dictionary of Cont..

him however is a direct object and could not be
rephrased in this way. On the other hand, in
can you spare me a minute? we may have an
indirect object and a direct object, or we may
have a direct object followed by an adverb of
time. (See nouns as adverbs.) This difference is
shown in speech by pitch or stress, but in
written English there is no way to decide which
construction was intended.
In the United States there is no exception to
the rule that an indirect object must stand immediately
after the verb or be replaced by a
prepositional phrase. When a verb is followed
by two personal pronouns either form can be
used, as in he gave me it and he gave it to me.
In this case, the prepositional phrase is preferred.
In Great Britain neither of these constructions
is used. The rule there is: when both
are personal pronouns, the direct object precedes
the indirect, as in he gave it me. This
construction is impossible to American ears.
But it has been standard in England for centuries
and is used in the King James Bible (for
example, Exodus 23:30). To English ears the
American to, as in he gave it to me, sounds like
an affectation, a would-be elegance, to be
classed with it is I.
Occasionally the only object of a verb is
logically an indirect and not a direct object, as
in he told his sister. In Latin this distinction
must be recognized and verbs such as help,
trust, believe, obey, envy, pardon, require an
object with a dative case ending. In English
there is no practical difference between the two
forms. All that remains of case here is the rule
that a subjective pronoun cannot be used immediately
after a transitive verb. This is true
whether the word represents the indirect or the
direct object. We cannot say 2 helped they any
more than we can say Z made they. It is customary
in English to call a word of this kind simply
the object and to distinguish the indirect from
the direct only when both are present.
An indirect object may be made the :subject
of a passive verb. In they gave him a ,reward
the direct object of gave is reward and the
normal passive construction would be a reward
was given him. But in English we may also say
he was given u reward. This is a very curious
construction that is not found in any of the
other Indo-European languages.
At one time an indirect object could be
placed before the verb, as in him was given a
reward. An important characteristic of modern
English has made this construction impossible
today, In present-day English a subjective pronoun
is not a form used when the word is the
subject of a verb; it is rather a form used when
the word stands immediately before a verb.
This is why, in spite of the grammarians’ protests,
we prefer he is taller than me or he is
taller than Z am to he is taller than I. This feeling
for the pronoun made he was given ;L more
comfortable phrase than him was given, even
when the word was an indirect object. This, in
turn, led to our modern passive form in which
an original indirect object is treated and felt as
241 Indoor
the subject of the verb. As late as 1855 the construction
was considered ungrammatical but it
is now preferred to the older form whenever
both forms are possible. That is, most people
today if asked to put the sentence he taught the
child music into a passive form would say the
child was taught music rather than music was
taught (to) the child.
indiscreet; indiscrete. These adjectives are pronounced
alike but must be distinguished. Zndiscreet
means not discreet, lacking in prudence
or sound judgment (Swift’s parents made an
indiscreet marriage: he used to say that he felt
the effects of it all his life). Zndiscrete means
not distinctly separate or distinguishable, undifferentiated
or homogeneous (Creation of the
world is said to have begun with indiscrete
chaos. Zf he had virtues they were certainly
indiscrete from his vices). Indiscreet is a useful
word but indiscrete, which is easily confused
with it and seldom understood in its proper
sense, should be avoided.
indispensable. See necessary.
indisposition. See sickness.
individual; person. Individual was originally an
adjective, denoting the particular as opposed to
the general (All effective advancement must be
by individual, not public, effort). The individual
was the single person in his capacity of
one of many. In the nineteenth century, under
the influence of that polysyllabic humor which
attained its most popular success in the works
of Dickens and which loved to make fun of
people by exaggerating their dignity, individual
came to be used a great deal as a noun in place
of person (The recalcitrant individual with the
glowing proboscis), and this use, its feeble
humor having faded long ago, has become established
among those who are addicted to
unnecessary syllables. Many speakers and
writers use it today with no facetious intent
whatever (an individual of whom this, or any
other community, might be justly proud. Who
was that individual Z saw you with last night?).
But in the best usage the correct word for a
single human being is still person (What is a
person to do on a desert island?). If individual
is to be used as a noun, it must characterize a
person as a single being in contrast with some
such body as the family, the state, or society in
general (The Club ought not to take a stand
on political matters, though the members are
free to express themselves, as individuals, in any
way they see fit. Even in the best of democracies
the rights of the individual are in constant
danger of being sacrificed to the will of the
society as a whole). Since it is easier to misuse
individual than to use it in its proper sense as
a noun, it is probably best to think of it in its
commoner function as an adjective, where it
means single, particular, separate (Each individual
leaf differs in some particular from all
the others),
indolent. See lazy.
indoor; indoors. Zndoor is the preferred form
when the word is used to qualify a following
noun, as in an indoor playground. Indoors is