On Wed, 19 May 2004 01:12:34 +0200, Julien Pourtet <yulinux@gmx.net>
wrote:
>migmam wrote:
>> Hello everybody.
>>
>> Question:
>>
>> is "Whom did you tell this story" equals or similar to "Who did you tell
>> this story to"?
>
>Grammar constructions mainly depend on verbs specificities.
>
>i.e. "tell" has a unique construction: to tell someone something
>
>This cannot work another way. Don't be confused between "tell" and
>"say", whose construction is different (to say something to someone).
>
>Hence, you can't have something like "Who did you tell this story to?",
>for "tell" doesn't require any preposition after.
>
>Anyone, if I am wrong, feel free to correct me ;o)
I think whay you said is not entirely right.
One can use the verb 'tell' in both ways.
to tell someone something.
to tell something to someone (especially when someone is a pronoun.)
In a way, this usage is similar to the following:
to give someone something
to give something to someone.
I just looked it up in a Coubild dictionary to be sure.
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