[Grammar] direct object question - She asked me what I wanted

[HeartShape]

Hi,

I saw this sentence in a discussion, and someone said "me" is the direct object.

Sentence 1. She asked me what I wanted.

The other person said:

No, that's not how it works. Objects are noun phrases, but "what I wanted" is an interrogative clause, so it can't be an object.

Source: https://www.englishforums.com/English/CatenativeVerbs/bnjdgg/post.htm

Is that sentence (1) correct?

I would have thought "what I wanted" is the direct object.

What do people think?

I just had a look at wikipedia and it said interrogative can be objects in the following:

Interrogative clause - They asked what had happened. (I guessing since it's the only object it must be the direct object).

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_(grammar)

 

[TheParser]

NOT A TEACHER


Hello, HeartShape:


Here is the opinion of two of my favorite grammarians.

"He would not tell me who he was."

1. "me" is the indirect object.

2. "Who he was" is an indirect question used as the object complement.

a. The authors say: "Before analyzing the indirect question, one should convert it to the statement form (he was who, or he was John Smith)."


Source: House and Harman, Descriptive English Grammar (1931 and 1950), page 373.

 

[PaulMatthews]

[1] She asked me [what I wanted].
[2] She asked [what I wanted].

In both cases, "what I wanted" is not direct object, but a subordinate interrogative clause (embedded question) functioning as complement of "asked".

The only difference between the two is that [1] has the further complement of "asked" in the form of the direct object "me".

The meaning can be glossed as:

"She asked (me) the answer to the question 'What did I want?'"

 

[Phaedrus]

Interrogative clause - They asked what had happened. (I guessing since it's the only object it must be the direct object).

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_(grammar)

Normally, it is noun phrases, not clauses, that we describe as grammatical "objects," direct or indirect. Thus, it would be strange to say that "that her name was Sally" was a direct object in "She said that her name was Sally." Like PaulMatthews, I'd analyze "what had happened" in "They asked what had happened" as an interrogative clause complementing "ask."

In a different type of sentence, "what had happened" could indeed function as a noun phrase (free relative clause) and as direct object -- e.g.: They admitted what had happened. (There is nothing interrogative about "what had happened" in that sentence.) Even with "ask," we could come up with examples in which a phrase beginning with "what" would not be an interrogative clause:

(a) They asked what they pleased.
(b) They asked me what they asked her.
(c) They asked me what had happened.

In (a) and (b), I analyze the "what"-phrase as a noun phrase (an object); in (c), I analyze it as an interrogative clause. In support of this analysis, I offer the following evidence. Grammatical objects can often be topicalized (fronted). I admit that it doesn't work well to front the "what"-phrase in (a), but "what they please" is kind of special. Consider, however, the difference with fronting in (b) and (c):

(b1) What they asked her, they asked me
(c1) *[strike]What had happened, they asked me.[/strike]

The fronting works beautifully in (b1). In (c1), it is abominable and (I think) ungrammatical. Compare: *? That her name was Sally, she said. Now, it occurs to me that I should note that (c1) could be made grammatical with a change of punctuation indicating a change in structure. If the sentence used directly reported speech, it would be perfectly fine: "What had happened?" they asked me.

 

[HeartShape]

This is actually quite interesting.

So, I think the reason why everyone agrees "me" is a direct object is because of the following:

1. She asked (me) the answer to the question 'What did I want?'"

If we analyse:

She asked (me) the answer to the question = S + V + DO + IO

This analysis shows the question is not a direct object.

Would I be correct in saying that?

 

[jutfrank]

The meaning can be glossed as:

"She asked (me) the answer to the question 'What did I want?'"

I don't think that's quite right. One asks questions, not answers. I would put it like this:

She asked (me) the question 'What do/did I want?'.

 

[HeartShape]

How about this sentence as an interrogative:

1. The problem is where to find such leaders.

The infinitive "to find", introduced by and modified by the interrogative adverb "where", takes "leaders" as a direct object and at the same time functions as a noun, as a subjective complement of the main verb "is".

Do we all agree "leaders" is a direct object here?

 

[HeartShape]

I don't think that's quite right. One asks questions, not answers. I would put it like this:

She asked (me) the question 'What do/did I want?'.

Actually, I think there is a problem with this. As jutfrank has demonstrated, one cannot asks answers in the glossed over version of the sentence. I think "what I wanted" is not a complement of the verb "ask" but a complement of the object "me".

We can now rewrite the syntax as follows:

i. She asked me what I wanted = S+V+DO+OC
ii. She asked me the answer to the question = S+V+DO+OC

Now, both sentence in (i) and (ii) have the same syntax notation.

That right now isn't it?

Finally, what so peculiar about the fact "me" is a considered to be a direct object in sentence (1) where in sentence (2) the "me" is considered an indirect object with an wh-finite object.

1. She asked me what I wanted

2. John asked me what time the meeting would end.

 

[HeartShape]

I have eventually found my answer.

To demonstrate we do the following with a number of sentences examples:

1. She asked: would you like some juice?
2. She asked me: would you like some juice?
3. She asked bill: would you like some juice?
4. She asked: would you like some juice, Bill?

Notice above each sentences contains two clauses. First clause in each sentences: SV+(DO)

Now, if we want to join the question grammatically, we use the embedding word:

To embed the questions together grammatically, we use the word "what".
She asked me what I wanted (note, no punctuation required) = S+V+DO+wh-clause

I'm pretty sure the reason for the confusion is that a lot of the learners like myself treat the word "what" ordinary, but it’s actually pretty special when it comes to using it as an interrogative. And this probably explains why "me" is the direct object.

Finally, that concludes my understanding. :-D