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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Preposition problem

"he decided to relieve himself in his room on one of his handkerchiefs. He had scores of these, made from the cotton given him at the ceremonies he attended"

will the above sentence be "given him" or "given to him"

now the above sentence was written by v.s. naipaul, so idoubt that it's a grammatical mistake, but somehow it just didnt seem right...maybe english has changed since this was written in '63...or maybe i am just wrong....could some please elucidate when 'to' should be written
  

Top answer

Anonymous made from the cotton given him at the ceremonies "Given him" is fine. The "to" is optional. To me, the omission is natural when the indirect object directly follows the verb, and the direct object precedes the verb.

— Avangi

  • Anonymous made from the cotton given him at the ceremonies "Given him" is fine.
  • The "to" is optional.
  • To me, the omission is natural when the indirect object directly follows the verb, and the direct object precedes the verb.
  • It doesn't have to be a pronoun: Special consideration was given the ambassador, considering his impediment.
  • Note that your example is a participial phrase, while mine is a finite verb in passive voice.
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5 Answers
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Anonymousmade from the cotton given him at the ceremonies
"Given him" is fine. The "to" is optional.

To me, the omission is natural when the indirect object directly follows the verb, and the direct object precedes the verb.

It doesn't have to be a pronoun: Special consideration was given the ambassador, considering his impediment.
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thanks a lot
writing it with 'to' would be correct as well, right??
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Absolutely.

Edit. I'm sorry. My analysis above is a mess.

[the] cotton [which was] given [to] him

consideration was given the Ambassador

It was stupid of me to call "cotton" and "consideration" direct objects of the verb.

The sense is passive in both examples, although the grammar differs.
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Anonymous"given him" or "given to him"
Both are OK. Naipaul was educated in England so his phrasing does not surprise me. "given him" strikes me as more typically British; "given to him" as American.

CJ
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Anonymouscould some please elucidate when 'to' should be written
Of course it would be obligatory in active voice, when the indirect object follows the direct object:
They gave him cotton at the ceremony. They gave cotton to him at the ceremony.

In the passive voice, it's optional "because" the "direct object" is now the subject o
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