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Esldepp Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Question about part of this sentence:

Davis gave speeches to soldiers and politicians but largely ignored the common people and thereby failed to harness Confederate nationalism by directing the energies of the people into winning the war; more and more the plain folk resented the favoritism shown the rich and powerful.

My Question: should it be "...shown by the rich and powerful", or "...in the rich and powerful", or "...of the rich and powerful" ?

Thanks

D
  

Top answer

more and more the plain folk resented the favoritism shown the rich and powerful. of the rich and powerful" ? No, it should not be any of those alternatives.

— Sam1947

  • more and more the plain folk resented the favoritism shown the rich and powerful.
  • of the rich and powerful" ?
  • No, it should not be any of those alternatives.
  • The favoritism was shown TO the rich and powerful, not any of the alternatives you list, which would totally change the meaning.
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9 Answers
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more and more the plain folk resented the favoritism shown the rich and powerful.

My Question: should it be "...shown by the rich and powerful", or "...in the rich and powerful", or "...of the rich and powerful" ?

No, it should not be any of those alternatives. The favoritism was shown TO the rich and powerful, not any of the alternatives you list, which would totally change th
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Thanks for the reply!

So "to" is omitted in this sentence? Why is it OK to omit this "to" here?

D
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It doesn't have to have "to" to be correct, but it wouldn't be incorrect to include to. The "to" is understood, whether or not it is actually included, and "the rich and famous" are the objects of the verb "shown."

Other examples of this same grammatical situation:

I was shown the door after it was determined I did not have an invitation to the event.

I was shown to th
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sam1947
Other examples of this same grammatical situation:

I was shown the door after it was determined I did not have an invitation to the event.

I was shown to the door after it was determined, etc.

To is optional.
But here "the rich and powerful" is the couterpart of "I" in your example instead of "the door". "...resent favora
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esldepp resented the favoritism shown the rich and powerful.
to show them favoritism The indirect object can be used with "to" or "for," but when not expressed, it's usually taken as "to." (to show favoritism to them)

Please read me the book. (Please read the book to me.)
If you mean "for," you need to specif
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Thanks, Avangi, for your reply. As I stated in the previous post, this "to" should not be omitted if the verb "show" is not treated specially here. For example,
I like the flowers presented to me.
You can't omit the "to" in this sentence. Same thing should apply to,
I resent the favoratism shown to the rich and powerful.

Is there anything wrong in this argument?

Th
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esldeppI like the flowers presented to me.
You can't omit the "to" in this sentence. Same thing should apply to,
I resent the favoratism shown to the rich and powerful.

Is there anything wrong in this argument?
The argument is fine, but I reject your premise.

The "to" would most likely be used in casual conversation. To omit it woul
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It's clear now. Thank you!

D
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One hears all the time constructions such as--

"I like the attention you show me."

It isn't incorrect to say, "I like the attention you show to me." But, it isn't necessary to have the to.

There is a song with lyrics, "Show me the way." It wouldn't be wrong to say, "Show to me the way," but it would sound a bit odd.

There are lots of examples:

Can you
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