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Nugso Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Rephrase

Hello all. I encountered with a question that is puzzling me now. Would you tell me whether it is correct and if it is, rephrase it.

I can't think of anyone whose idea it would have been to tell that to you.

I'd rephrase it as follows:

I can't think of anyone whose idea was to tell that you.( And I, for some reason, think that this one is better than the first one.)

Thanks.
  

Top answer

to tell that TO you. or ... to tell you that.

— BarbaraPA

  • to tell that TO you.
  • or ...
  • to tell you that.
  • to tell that you.
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12 Answers
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... to tell that TO you.
or
... to tell you that.

But not: ...to tell that you.
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Oh, my mistake! Thank you Grammar Geek. Could you also tell me which one you would prefer?
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Thank you once again Grammar Geek.
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But it's just a personal preference. It's no more correct than the other.
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Well, again I'd like to know which one you would prefer between these;

I can't think of anyone whose idea it would have been to tell that to you.

I can't think of anyone whose idea was to tell you that.
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Well -- in the first one, it's not clear anyone did tell "you" anything. It seems that "you" said something like "I don't know why they told me. I guess someone thought it was a good idea to tell me." (Maybe "you" snooped and found something out without being told.)

Edit: Thinking about this more, I don't agree with what I wrote above any longer. It just seems that the "would have been" i
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I'm sure GG meant thought in her suggestion.
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Yes, thanks. Sorry I can't edit it to fix it.
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Well, the sentence probably looks weird/doubtful because I've changed it a bit.( Alas I don't have the original one now Emotion: tongue tied).
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