Declarative Sentences – Free Exercise

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Exercises

Choose the correct sentence part for each field in order to construct a logical sentence in each row.

subject verb direct object indirect object
Marina gives her sister a CD.
They explain the situation to the citizens.
The noise startled my cousin.

Construct sentences. Pay attention to word order: the direct object comes before the indirect object.

  1. a su prima/escribe/Julia/una carta
    →   The direct object comes before the indirect object.Julia writes her cousin a letter.
  2. cuenta/a su hermana/una historia/Pascual
    →   The direct object comes before the indirect object.Pascual tells his sister a story.
  3. muchos libros/presta/a sus lectores/la biblioteca
    →   The direct object comes before the indirect object.The library lends its visitors many books.
  4. las manzanas/prefiero/a las peras
    →   The direct object comes before the indirect object.|The subject pronoun (yo) is not necessary, so the sentence begins with the verb.I like apples better than pears.
  5. lee/el nieto/al abuelo/el periódico
    →   The direct object comes before the indirect object.The grandson reads his grandfather the newspaper.

Complete the sentences. Pay attention to word order.
The indirect object only comes first if the direct object has supplemental information attached to it.

  1. a sus nietos/hacen/regalos
    → Los abuelos  .In most cases, the direct object comes before the indirect object.The grandparents give gifts to their grandchildren.
  2. un trabajo/a su clase/presentó/sobre su animal favorito
    → Sandra  .Since the direct object receives supplemental information, we put the indirect object first here.Sandra gave her class a presentation on her favourite animal.
  3. el juego/a sus vecinos/enseñan/que aprendieron en vacaciones
    → Roberto y María  . The direct object receives supplemental information (in the form of a relative clause) and therefore comes after the indirect object.Roberto and Marta are showing their neighbours the game they learned on holiday.
  4. a Jorge/una bofetada/dio/que le dolió mucho
    → Mari Carmen  .The direct object receives supplemental information (in the form of a relative clause) and therefore comes after the indirect object.Mari Carmen gave Jorge a slap that really hurt.
  5. a los periodistas/ofrece/nuevas posibilidades
    → Internet  .In most cases, the direct object comes before the indirect object.The internet offers journalists new possibilities.