Two objects?

MollyB   Mon May 18, 2009 8:18 am GMT
Are there two objects here?

Blame the crisis on the banks.
citghst   Mon May 18, 2009 9:57 am GMT
You mean something like:

"banks" -- object of "on"
"crisis" -- object of "blame"

?
Entbark   Wed May 20, 2009 5:02 am GMT
Crisis is the direct object and banks is an indirect object.

[Blame (the crisis)] {on the banks}.

You could also say "[Blame (the banks)] {for the crisis}," which would switch the objects around so that crisis would be an indirect object and banks would be the direct object.

[] = verb phrase
() = noun phrase
{} = prepositional phrase
Mufti   Wed May 20, 2009 6:45 am GMT
Yes, there are two objects.
Cara   Wed May 20, 2009 6:47 am GMT
*
{} = prepositional phrase *

But isn't "blame for" a prepositional verb?
Entbark   Wed May 20, 2009 10:22 am GMT
How is it a prepositional verb? You can easily replace the prepositional phrase with another phrase, like "due to their greed" or "while they let money slip through their fingers," or just leave off the prepositional phrase altogether: "Blame the banks."
Cara   Wed May 20, 2009 11:14 pm GMT
The "for" is implicit in "Blame the banks", Entbark.