These verbs are really used in a double sense. For instance, in the first sentence, in so far as will teach takes the object the people of New England, it means instruct; in so far as it takes the object the advantages of good food, fresh air and sunshine, it means impart. When such a sentence is changed to the passive form, either object may become the subject, and the other may remain as the object of the passive verb; or, if the personal object remains, it may be called an indirect object.
Some verbs usually intransitive may become transitive by being followed by a cognate object, that is, one whose meaning is akin to that of the verb, as in the familiar expressions run a race, dream a dream, smile a smile; as, “There he fell into evil paths, and on a fatal day sinned a great sin.”—Hillis.
Some transitive verbs may be followed by an object meaning the same person or thing as the subject. This is called a reflexive object; as, “On the wall opposite, about a mile across the gulf, a brook was pouring itself to the valley.”—King. In this sentence the brook is conceived in two aspects, that of a doer and that of a receiver—it pours and is poured.
Some verbs are made transitive by the addition of an adverb; as,
“Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring out the false, ring in the true.”
—Tennyson.
Here the old is the object not of the verb ring, but of the verb ring out.
Frequently a preposition is to be taken with a verb, the two words denoting one idea and that transitive; as, “You cannot stir abroad but Jews and Christians pounce upon you with unsettled bonds.”—Carlyle. A test for this sort of compound verb is that when it is changed to the passive form, the two words—verb and preposition—remain together; thus, “You are pounced upon by Jews and Christians.”
In the sentence, “Make up your mind to forego driving sledge,” we have four different direct objects. (1) The compound verb make up takes the object your mind. (2) The whole group of words make up your mind is equivalent to the one verb decide, and as such takes the infinitive phrase for object, to forego driving sledge. (3) The object of the infinitive to forego is the gerund-phrase driving sledge. (4) The object of the gerund driving is the noun sledge.