A return question. If we take the original sentence down a bit, we have <language convinces us>. My eyes read <us> as the direct object, which would then make <that a.explanation> the clause that answers the question "What" (as in, what does the language convince us). So.why would we take <us> as the indirect object? -patty _____ From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Scott Woods Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 9:40 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: "convinces us that..."? List, I have a few questions about the following sentence: <Poe's language, however, gradually convinces us that a purely rational explanation will not suffice, however neatly it fits the external facts. > Would you take <us> as the indirect object? Would you take the <that> clause after it as the direct object? Is this analogous to <He showed us a monkey>? Does <convince> always take a noun clause object when it takes an direct object? In <He convinced us>, is <us> now the direct object, that is, we were the convinced ones, or is there still an implied clausal direct object leaving <us> as an indirect object? Thanks, Scott Woods To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/