The Objects of the Verb Tell, the Details of and Details Of

Question

Did you tell Megan the details of the Information Day? If not, I will tell her.1) Should you add "the details" to the rear of the last sentence if you want to make it natural?--- "If not, I will tell her the details." 'Tell' normally takes the direct and indirect objects, and I wonder if in this case you need the direct object. My gut feeling and experience tells me --- and I would normally just say so --- you don't need it here.2) Could we drop 'the' off of 'the details'? I feel there is a difference here; just 'detail of ...' would make you feel the details 'you' might have given were not all the details you need for the Day.Thanks in advance for your help,Hiro

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

HSSMy gut feeling and experience tells me --- and I would normally just say so --- you don't need it here.

You can safely listen to your gut on this one! I will tell her is enough. You don't need to repeat what you already said.

HSSCould we drop 'the' off of 'the details'?

Hmm. If you did that, you would want to add any. Did you tell Megan any details?

CJ

HSS · Answer

CalifJimHmm. If you did that, you would want to add any. Did you tell Megan any details?

And does "Did you tell Megan any details of the Information Day" stand natural as well?

Hiro

CalifJim · Answer

Since your original question was about the objects of tell, I didn't focus much on the rest of the sentence.

As it turns out, that last part doesn't sound natural to me. I would have said

Did you tell Megan any details about Information Day?

(I don't know what you intend to convey by "Information Day", but since you capitalized it, I assume it's some sort of special day that is observed regularly in your area.)

CJ

HSS · Answer

Thanks, CJ, as always. The Information Day --- actually I made it up. I was thinking of a day when highschool students visit your college, are given a campus tour, are provided information on it, and have a chance to ask you questions. It may sound better if you call it the open campus.

CalifJim · Answer

HSSI was thinking of a day when highschool students visit your college, are given a campus tour, ...

OK. Then it's a proper noun, and would not take an article. No the.

Here are some examples of other special days in the American calendar that have the word Day at the end. No article.

... details about Groundhog Day.
... details about New Year's Day.
... details about Memorial Day.
... details about Labor Day.
... details about Mother's Day.

CJ

Tinanam0102 · Answer

Hi CalifJim,

I'm sorry if I interrupted here. I have struggled over the use "detail of" and "detail on/about"

Could I ask why "detals of Information Day" is not used but "details about Information Day"?

Thank you.

Tinanam

CalifJim · Answer

tinanam0102Could I ask why "detals of Information Day" is not used

The combination "details of" is used very frequently. And so is "details about".

I suppose it was the verb tell that governed my choice in this case. We tell people about things, so the presence of tell influenced me to choose about.

CJ

Tinanam0102 · Answer

Dear CalifJim,

Thank you for the explanation.

I found two sentences on internet with combinations: "details of" and "detail on". I suppose "detail on" mean almost the same as "detail about". Would you please tell me how they differ, and how should we be governed in our choice in cases like these?

1. A statement from the family did not give details of the precise cause of death. (Would "on" or "about" justified here?)

2. The statement did not give details on the cause of death for John. (Would "of" work here?)

3. Would you say, "Details on / of the furneral are not available"?

Thank you.

Tinanam

CalifJim · Answer

You will see "details of", "details on", "details about", and probably others. There is hardly any difference. I think "of" shows a slightly closer association than "on" or "about".

The details of a cause of death, for example, might be all the things listed in the physician's report on the death -- exact time of death, the level of alcohol or drugs in the blood, etc.

The details on (or about) a cause of death might be the details surrounding the circumstances of the death -- whether the person was moving about in public at the time of death, or confined to bed at home, whether the death was sudden or slow, who was with the person at the time of death, whether foul play was suspected, and so on.

On the other hand, "of", "on", and "about" might be used interchangeably. There is no strict rule on these. I would use "on" in place of "of" in all your examples, and others would use "of".

CJ

Tinanam0102 · Answer

Hello CalifJim,

Thank you for very clear explanations of this topic. I'm delighted.

Could I ask if by interchangeably, "of" and "on / about" placement could be influenced by patterns like "The__ of__"? The reason I said that is because my former teacher once told me that.

Examples:

Did I make a mistake in coming here?

She soon realized that she made the mistake of taking a wrong turn in her car.

There is no question but that there was discussion about Iraq, and it was in that context....... The discussion of Iraq was simply whether or not it made sense, in the global war on terrorisim....

Thank you again.

Tinanam

The Objects of the Verb Tell, the Details of and Details Of

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