| poli |
July 22, 2011 12:12 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rusty
(Post 114222)
The verb 'ask' can take both a direct object and an indirect object.
In this article, "I need to ask John a question" is treated as a special case, where the indirect object immediately follows the verb 'ask'. I admit this sounds much better. However, I'm quite certain I've heard the next sentence the article spotlights both ways. And, "He promised it to me," sounds much better than "He promised me it."
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The second one sound a little bit less refined to me. I think the meaning is slightly differnent. He promised it to me sounds neutral to me, and if that promise is not kept the response would be the hotter but he promised me it.
Linguististics gets very fuzzy. |
