It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.

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Is this the only occasion when this happens? I don't recall hearing of people who spoke their wife, for instance

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Originally posted by zmjezhd:
We have discussed ditransitive verbs here before. The upshot is in the States (and Canada, too), we turned write into one, rather than not as in the UK. Just one of the many differences that unite our languages.

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8.2 Ditransitive / monotransitive contrasts

8.2.1 Type I: I gave her the key vs I gave the key to her

The indirect object generally expresses arguments with the semantic role of recipient, and these arguments are all commonly expressed by PPs headed by to and for respectively. We distinguish five verb classes according to which of the following constructions they license: ditransitive, monotrasitive with to phrase, monotrasitive with for phrase.

[42]

IO + DO
i.a. I gave her the key.
ii.a. *I explained her the problem.
iii.a. I bought her a hat.
iv.a. *I borrowed her the money.
v.a. I spared her the trouble.
DO + non-core comp
i.b. I gave the key to her. [IO or to]
ii.b. I explained the problem to her. [to only]
iii.b. I bought a hat for her. [IO or for]
iv.b. I borrowed the money for her. [for only]
v.b. *I spared the trouble to/for her. IO only]

The (a) examples are ditransitive, whereas the (b) ones are monotransitives containing a non-core complement after the direct object. Examples of verbs belonging to the five classes are given in:

[43]

i. IO or to: award, bequeath, bring, cable, deny, feed, give, hand, kick, leave, lend, offer, owe, past, post, promise, read, sell, send, show, take, teach, tell, throw, write.

ii. to only: announce, confess, contribute, convery, declare, deliver, donate, exhibit, explain, mention, narrate, refer, return, reveal, say, submit, transfer.

iii, IO or for: bake, build, buy, cook, design, fetch, find, get, hire, leave, make, order, reach, rent, reserve, save (1), sing, spare (1), write.

iv. for only: acquire, borrow, collect, compose, fabricate, obtain, recover, retrieve, withdraw.

v. IO only: allow, begrudge, bet, charge, cost, envy, excuse, fine, forgive, permit, refuse, save (2), spare (2), strike, tax, tip, wish.

The subscripts [numbers within parentheses] indicate different senses. For leave we have He left (1) everything to his wife ("bequeathed"), Class (i), and I've left (2) some spaghetti for you, etc.

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IO not found in canonical clauses without DO

In canonical clauses containing just one object, that object is always a direct object, even if it corresponds semantically to the indirect object of a ditransitive clause.

[14]

i. She teaches the first-year students introductory logic. [IO + DO]
ii. She teaches introductory logic. [DO with semantic role of ditransitive DO]
iii. She teaches the first-year students. [DO with semantic role of ditransitive IO]

Franklin would swear that an American "set down in the tourbillion of such a great city as Paris must necessarily be for some days half out of his senses." He knew of what he spoke …
– Stacy Schiff, A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America

Aerial maroons, bombshells filled with stars, rockets fizzing in tens, fifties, hundreds and thousands, Roman candles, electric spray, tourbillions and diamond dust lit the night sky…
– Amanda Mackenzie Stuart, Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: [etc.]

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– Stacy Schiff, A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America