Qualities

[Xinfu]

-John's mother tells him __ the significant qualities of parsnip.


My friend says my sentence should have about in the blank, otherwise it would be wrong. But I think not using anything in the blank is the best way. What do you think?

[poli]

-John's mother tells him __ the significant qualities of parsnip.


My friend says my sentence should have about in the blank, otherwise it would be wrong. But I think not using anything in the blank is the best way. What do you think?

About works well here. I don't know the rule because I'm no grammarian( maybe one verb is transitive and the other intransitive), but if tell is used proceeding a verb, the subsequent verb must be infinitive (tells me to eat parsnips). If you wish to eliminate about, use the verb discuss instead of tell.

[Xinfu]

About works well here. I don't know the rule because I'm no grammarian( maybe one verb is transitive and the other intransitive), but if tell is used proceeding a verb, the subsequent verb must be infinitive (tells me to eat parsnips). If you wish to eliminate about, use the verb discuss instead of tell.

Thanks for the reply. But your red sentence is entirely different from mine:

-tell him __ something

My sentence does not have a second verb. Also, the suggestion about discuss is a surprise to me (please excuse me for saying this, Poli); If I used discuss, it would be

???We discuss him the significant qualities of parsnip.????