In Chinese, verbs like 给 gěi ‘give’, 送 sòng ‘give as a present’, 借jiè
‘borrow’/‘lend’, 还 huán ‘give back’/‘return’ and 赔 péi ‘compensate’/‘pay
for’ entail the use of a direct and an indirect object, thereby forming a dative
sentence:
他给她一束花。
Tā gěi tā yī shù huā 。
(一束花 yī shù huā a direct object, 她 tā indirect object)
He gave her a bunch of flowers.
朋友送我一瓶酒。
Péng yǒu sòng wǒ yī píng jiǔ 。
(一瓶酒 yī píng jiǔ direct object, 我 wǒ indirect object)
My friend gave me a bottle of wine as a present.
他借了图书馆一批书。
Tā jiè le tú shū guǎn yī pī shū 。
(一批书 yī pī shū direct object, 图书馆 tú shū guǎn indirect object)
He borrowed a number of books from the library.
她还了我们一张邮票。
Tā hái le wǒ men yī zhāng yóu piào 。
(一张邮票 yī zhāng yóu piào direct object, 我们 wǒ men indirect object)
She returned a stamp to us.
保险公司赔了他们一笔钱吗？
Bǎo xiǎn gōng sī péi le tā men yī bǐ qián ma？
(一笔钱 yī bǐ qián direct object, 他们 tā men indirect object)
Did the insurance company give them a sum of money in compensation?
我没（有）欠他什么东西？
I did not owe him anything.
[1] Yip, P. C., Rimmington, D., Xiaoming, Z., & Henson, R. (2009). Basic Chinese: a grammar and workbook. Taylor & Francis.
