Re: Passive voice

Hmmm...maybe not that weird.

"She teaches him the lesson"

she = subject
him = indirect object ('dative')
the lesson = direct object ('accusative')

Now, let's try to shift word order a little:

*She teaches the lesson him - She teaches the lesson to him.

The sentence with the asterisk is the false one - it seems that English
places the indirect object before the direct object. If this order is
reversed, the indirect object is to be accompanied by 'to'. The same goes
for Dutch:

Ik geef hem een cadeau (I give him a present)
Ik geef een cadeau aan hem (I give a present to him)

Passivizing:

The lesson is being taught to him.

Here, the direct object becomes the subject of the sentence, whereas the
subject becomes the direct object. The indirect object is preceded by 'to'.

He is being taught the lesson.

Here, the indirect object becomes the subject - hence there's no 'to'.

"To him is being taught a lesson" is no more than a 'bad' way of saying "A
lesson is being taught to him" - the word order is simply reversed. Thus, in
this sentence the direct object of sentence 1 is the subject of the
sentence, NOT the indirect object.