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Pructus Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
Questions of him VS to him
Thanks for the replies.
I understand that "They asked him a question" is the simplest form and is much used.
But also the grammar books keeep saying that the sentence can be turned into either "They asked a question to him" or "They asked a question of him"
And also, the grammar books do not give the one unified answer.
There is one other answer I received recently. That is.... They asked a question of him" means a question of private matters like where he is from, what does he do, etc. whereas "They asked a quesion to him" means a question of non-private matters, for example, asking ways to some place, etc.
What do you native speakers think about this opinion?
I understand that "They asked him a question" is the simplest form and is much used.
But also the grammar books keeep saying that the sentence can be turned into either "They asked a question to him" or "They asked a question of him"
And also, the grammar books do not give the one unified answer.
There is one other answer I received recently. That is.... They asked a question of him" means a question of private matters like where he is from, what does he do, etc. whereas "They asked a quesion to him" means a question of non-private matters, for example, asking ways to some place, etc.
What do you native speakers think about this opinion?
Top answer
As I native speaker I must say that this is a good example of "splitting hairs"! There does seem to be some truth, in a vague and general way, to the private/non-private distinction, but I do not think that the distinction is uniformly observed in practice. 995%.
- As I native speaker I must say that this is a good example of "splitting hairs"!
- There does seem to be some truth, in a vague and general way, to the private/non-private distinction, but I do not think that the distinction is uniformly observed in practice.
- 995%.
- A person could quite comfortably go through an entire lifetime without resort to those lesser used forms!
- CJ
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3 Answers
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As I native speaker I must say that this is a good example of "splitting hairs"!
There does seem to be some truth, in a vague and general way, to the private/non-private distinction, but I do not think that the distinction is uniformly observed in practice.
The use of question to and question of is probably only 0.005%, whereas the use of ask him a question i
There does seem to be some truth, in a vague and general way, to the private/non-private distinction, but I do not think that the distinction is uniformly observed in practice.
The use of question to and question of is probably only 0.005%, whereas the use of ask him a question i
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CalifJim A person could quite comfortably go through an entire lifetime without resort to those lesser used forms!Indeed so. In fact, in the BNC, there is only one example of "asked a question of + ****" and nothing re "asked a question to + ****". For "asked + **** + a question", there are 45 returns.
CJ
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Thanks...
Google shows 142 results for "ask questions to them".
I wanted to know what the native speaker's senses were....
Google shows 142 results for "ask questions to them".
I wanted to know what the native speaker's senses were....
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