Write it Like a Fairy Tale -- maybe it's just me

When you use a verb that needs a preposition, do you struggle with where the preposition goes relative to the predicate?

The farther you put the preposition from the verb, the harder it is for your reader to know what you meant. 

But sometimes it is uncomfortable to put the preposition between the verb and predicate.

Maybe it's just me. I grew up west of Pennsylvania Dutch territory and had schoolmates who were Mennonite or at least "plain". I was used to phrases like the classic "throw the cow over the fence some hay". (tossed plenty of hay in my time too)

In that case the syntax should be "throw some hay over the fence to the cow", because "over" is part of a prepositional phrase, not a complement to the verb. In German, "to the cow" would be in dative and "some hay" would be accusative and there would be no doubt what you were throwing.

Even if you grew up immersed in the language you write in, you can make mistakes. I'm working on Arabic for a project on Samaritan scripture, and James Price assures us that kids are prone to a specific mistake if they grow up with parents who speak Arabic, but the kids don't. (Had to edit that one a couple of times)

So cut yourself some slack, but EDIT EDIT EDIT.