Placement of [to you] and [from John]

Question

I have made up the examples below.(1a) Jack explained to me how the latest Physics theory of Quantum Mechanics is related to the previous one proposed by a few famous physicists five years ago.(1b) Jack explained how the latest Physics theory of Quantum Mechanics is related to the previous one proposed by a few famous physicists five years ago to me.(2a) I bought from John a special vase that was nicely designed by his grandparents and made by his father.(2b) I bought a special vase that was nicely designed by his grandparents and made by his father from John.Most of my non-native English speaking friends think the a's are correct. My other friends think the b's are right. I am not sure whose answer is correct. Please give me your answer. Thanks.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

ansonguy(1a) Jack explained to me how the latest Physics theory of Quantum Mechanics is related to the previous one proposed by a few famous physicists five years ago.

Correct. Within the right context, it may be possible to omit "to me" completely.

ansonguy(1b) Jack explained how the latest Physics theory of Quantum Mechanics is related to the previous one proposed by a few famous physicists five years ago to me.

Grammatically correct, but the placement of "to me" is awkward because there are so many words between "explained" and "to me". In such cases, we usually try to find somewhere closer to put the phrase.

ansonguy(2a) I bought from John a special vase that was nicely designed by his grandparents and made by his father.

We don't put words between a verb and its direct object in English, so "from John" should be moved — so that it's after "a special vase".

I bought a special vase from John that was nicely designed by his grandparents and made by his father.

That puts the relative clause modifier of "a special vase" a bit farther from the words it modifies, but not too far.

ansonguy(2b) I bought a special vase that was nicely designed by his grandparents and made by his father from John.

Grammatically correct, but the placement of "from John" is awkward because there are so many words between "bought" and "from John". The solution proposed for 2a above is what you need in this case.

CJ

Placement of [to you] and [from John]

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