0
HanJH Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

Usage of GIVE as transitive

Hi.

You may see the following sentences in The Holy Bible - Contemporary English Version by American Bible Society.

Don't give to dogs what belongs to God. They will only turn and attack you. Don't ... Matthew 7.6

' Don't give to dogs what belongs to God.' is strange for me.
Could anyone give me comments about this?

Thank you in advance.
Han.
  

Top answer

Sorry, but I don't understand your problem quite. The 'to' is usually omitted, but can be inserted to prevent ambiguity. Its use in that position seems archaic now.

— Mister Micawber

  • Sorry, but I don't understand your problem quite.
  • The 'to' is usually omitted, but can be inserted to prevent ambiguity.
  • Its use in that position seems archaic now.
  • These are variations of the same message: He gave me a ham sandwich.
  • He gave a ham sandwich to me.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

4 Answers
0
.
Sorry, but I don't understand your problem quite. The 'to' is usually omitted, but can be inserted to prevent ambiguity. Its use in that position seems archaic now. These are variations of the same message:

He gave me a ham sandwich.
He gave a ham sandwich to me.
He gave to me a ham sandwich.
.
0
0
Thank you Mister Micawber.

I learned 'He gave to me a ham sandwich' is incorrect.
But now I just learned that the 'to' is usually omitted, but can be inserted to prevent ambiguity.

Han.
0
0
.
Just remember that it is not the usual way nowadays, Han, and you may well find someone correcting your sentence if you use it. You might see it in a poem, for instance, to maintain the rhythm, or as in your example, to set up a parallel between 'give to' and 'belong to'.
.
0
0
Thank you Mister Micawber.
I will remember that it is possible but not the usual way.
0

Related Questions