Complements

TO: we use the preposition to when the action implies that an object that already existed 'goes' or 'moves' somewhere:
- John gave a book TO Mary (the book 'goes' to Mary)
- I drove the bus TO the lake (the bus 'goes' to the lake)
- He said Hello TO me (the word Hello goes to him)

Double dative: the two complements appear without any preposition when someone makes sure that another one has something that may have not existed before:
- John gave Mary a kiss (John wants Mary to have a kiss)
- That music is giving me a headache (I am starting to have a headache)
- He told me the truth/hour/news (I have this information)
- She caused John a lot of problems (John had problems because of her)

Exceptions:

Verbs of manner (feed, give, hand, lend, loan, pay, sell, serve, trade, donate, mutter, etc.): use common sense:
- Mary threw the ball to John (the ball 'moves' to John)
- Mary threw John the ball (so that John has it)
- Mary threw the ball to John but a bird got in the way (it was 'moving' to John)
- Mary threw John the ball but a bird got in the way* (if John has the ball, it is not possible that something gets in the way)
- Mary donated some money to the hospital (the money 'goes' to the hospital)
- Mary donated the hospital some money *(money cannot 'go' by itself)
- Mary muttered the news to John (the news 'go' to John)
- Mary muttered John the news* (news can only 'go')
Continued force can only be expressed with to:
- Mary pushes the chalk to John (she pushes it so that the chalk 'goes' to John)
- Mary pushes John the chalk* (not possible)
- Mary towed the car to John (she 'moved' the car so that it 'goes' to John)
- The worker lifted his boss the crate* (not possible)

Benefactive: to do something to benefit someone:

I bought a bike FOR my sister: it is ambiguous though:

Malefactive: something is a pain in the neck for you or someone (ethical pronouns)

Summary:

She built him a house (Double dative)
She built a house FOR him (Benefactive): so that he had it OR so that he didn't need to build it himself
She built a house ON him (Malefactive): having a house is not good for him

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