Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[syoshioka99]

#1 This dictionary was given (me/ to me) by my father.

#2 A sad story was told (me/ to me) by my mother.

#3 This Christmas Card was sent (me/ to me) by my cousin.

#4 English is taught (the students/ to the students) by Mr. Suzuki.

#5 A story is read (the children/ to the children) every night by her.

#6 The truth wasn't told (me/ to me) by him.

#7 Several questions were asked (me/ to me) by the boy.

#8 The T-shirt was given (me/ to me) by my uncle.


(Question) I want all of the native English speakers to ask which is correct .

I'd appreciate it very much if you could give me as many opinions as possible.

My guess is all of the above are correct.

Satoru

Tochigi, Japan

[CP]

Either with or without "to" works for all these sentences, but only (I think) because they are all in the passive voice.

In the active voice, usually you want the indirect object before the direct object if you want to dispense with "to." If you have the direct object first, then you need the "to" for clarity.

Give me the ball. Give the ball to me. The ball was given [to] me by Babe Ruth.

I wrote my mother a letter. I wrote a letter to my mother. A letter was written [to] my mother by me.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[syoshioka99]

I hear in #4&5, with 'to' is better than without.
What do you say?


#4 English is taught (the students/ to the students) by Mr. Suzuki.
#5 A story is read (the children/ to the children) every night by her.


Satoru

Tochigi, Japan

[CP]

Yes, I think #4 and #5 are better with "to." My preferences, just based on the way they sound:

#1 This dictionary was given me by my father.

#2 A sad story was told to me by my mother.

#3 This Christmas Card was sent to me by my cousin.

#4 English is taught to the students by Mr. Suzuki.

#5 A story is read to the children every night by her.

#6 The truth wasn't told to me by him. (Very awkward sentence.)

#7 Several questions were asked me by the boy. (Never "to me." I ask a question of someone; I don't ask a question to somone.)

#8 The T-shirt was given me by my uncle.

Hope this helps.
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[syoshioka99]

>>>Yes, I think #4 and #5 are better with "to." My preferences, just based on the way they sound:

(question)
I understand in #4&5, the sentences with 'to' is better.
But do I ALWAYS have to put 'to' into the sentence #4 and #5? I mean

#4 English is taught the students by Mr. Suzuki.
#5 A story is read the children every night by her.

Are they NOT acceptable to any native English speakers in ANY situation?


Ive been asking you about this topic so many times. because one of my students told me

#5 A story is read TO the children every night by her.

#2 A sad story was told TO me by my mother.

These were the ONLY possible answers in changing the voice of the sentences below.

She read the children a story every night.
My mother told me a story.


What do you think about this? I'm in trouble. Please help me!


Satoru

[CP]

As I said earlier, either with or without "to" works for these passive sentences, except for 7, so both 4 and 5 are fine without "to."

No. 7 doesn't work with "to" because we don't ask questions to someone, although we can ask questions of someone.

With the passive sentences, we understand that the person doing the action, who would be the subject of a sentence in the active voice, is the one near the word "by," while the direct object starts out the sentence. So the indirect object is obvious, with or without the "to."

Active voice, I.O. then D.O.: "My father gave me this dictionary."

Passive voice, D.O. then I.O.: "My father gave this dictionary to me."

Passive voice: "This dictionary was given [to] me by my father."
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[syoshioka99]

thank u very much.

satoru

[Mallaien]

[quote="syoshioka99"]#1 This dictionary was given (me/ to me) by my father.

#2 A sad story was told (me/ to me) by my mother.

#3 This Christmas Card was sent (me/ to me) by my cousin.

#4 English is taught (the students/ to the students) by Mr. Suzuki.

#5 A story is read (the children/ to the children) every night by her.

#6 The truth wasn't told (me/ to me) by him.

#7 Several questions were asked (me/ to me) by the boy.

#8 The T-shirt was given (me/ to me) by my uncle.

english has 3 words that sound the same and can be confusing....

To... Two.... Too...


you see the use of "To" here, "Two" is the same as "2", and "Too" would be used like this, "he said too much", or "I ate too much rice"

[do_it]

I agree with CP on some things but disagree with others.. I definately don't think they are all ok without 'to'

For number 7, I agree that you can't say, Several questions were asked to me by the boy, but also it is incorrect to say 'Several questions were asked me by the boy' It is better to say 'asked of me'.

Because they are in the passive form, I think that it sounds very funny to say things like 'This dictionary was given me...
A sad story was told me..
I don't know why anyone thinks they are ok.

It is definately much better to use 'to' in all of the sentences except 7. But if I only had the choice out of (me/to me) for 7 I would use to.


#1 This dictionary was given to me by my father.

#2 A sad story was told to me by my mother.

#3 This Christmas Card was sent to me by my cousin.

#4 English is taught to the students by Mr. Suzuki.

#5 A story is read to the children every night by her.

#6 The truth wasn't told to me by him.

#7 Several questions were asked of me by the boy.

#8 The T-shirt was given to me by my uncle.

[Mallaien]

Its hard for me to really look at this, "to" is probably to most used word in the english language. As a native speaker I use it so much I dont even think of it. When I really take a look at the word, even I have a hard time defining the use of it, for me, its just comes to me naturally.

to prove the difficulty of how the word is used, look at the many definitions from Webster dictionary...

Main Entry: to
Function: preposition

1 a -- used as a function word to indicate movement or an action or condition suggestive of movement toward a place, person, or thing reached <drove to the city> <went back to the original idea> <went to lunch>
b -- used as a function word to indicate direction <a mile to the south> <turned his back to the door> <a tendency to silliness>
c -- used as a function word to indicate contact or proximity <applied polish to the table> <put her hand to her heart>
d (1) -- used as a function word to indicate the place or point that is the far limit <100 miles to the nearest town> (2) -- used as a function word to indicate the limit of extent <stripped to the waist>
e -- used as a function word to indicate relative position <perpendicular to the floor>

2 a -- used as a function word to indicate purpose, intention, tendency, result, or end <came to our aid> <drink to his health>
b -- used as a function word to indicate the result of an action or a process <broken all to pieces> <go to seed> <to their surprise, the train left on time>

3 -- used as a function word to indicate position or relation in time: as a : BEFORE <five minutes to five>
b : TILL <from eight to five> <up to now>

4 -- used as a function word to indicate addition, attachment, connection, belonging, possession, accompaniment, or response <the key to the door> <danced to live music> <comes to her call>

5 -- used as a function word (1) to indicate the extent or degree (as of completeness or accuracy) <loyal to a man> <generous to a fault> or the extent and result (as of an action or a condition) <beaten to death> (2) to indicate the last or an intermediate point of a series <moderate to cool temperatures>

6 a -- used as a function word (1) to indicate a relation to one that serves as a standard <inferior to her earlier works> (2) to indicate similarity, correspondence, dissimilarity, or proportion <compared him to a god>
b -- used as a function word to indicate agreement or conformity <add salt to taste> <to my knowledge>
c -- used as a function word to indicate a proportion in terms of numbers or quantities <400 to the box> <odds of ten to one>

7 a -- used as a function word (1) to indicate the application of an adjective or a noun <agreeable to everyone> <attitude to friends> <title to the property> (2) to indicate the relation of a verb to its complement or to a complementary element <refers to the traditions> <refers us to the traditions> (3) to indicate the receiver of an action or the one for which something is done or exists <spoke to his mother> <gives a dollar to the man> and often used with a reflexive pronoun to indicate exclusiveness (as of possession) or separateness <had the house to themselves> <thought to herself>
b -- used as a function word to indicate agency <falls to his opponent's blows>

8 -- used as a function word to indicate that the following verb is an infinitive <wants to go> and often used by itself at the end of a clause in place of an infinitive suggested by the preceding context <knows more than she seems to>

[Anuradha Chepur]

I am puzzled that native speakers have approved the sentences. Going by rules, and also by usage, in English double object constructions, the recepeint (which is usually animate) preferably precedes the theme (usually inanimate). In the passive, the recepient (animate) takes the subject role.

John gave Mary a book. (John gave a book to Mary.)
Mary was given a book by John. (A book was given to Mary by John.)

The sentences should preferably read as:

#1 I was given this dictionary by my father.

#2 I was told a sad story by my mother.

#3 I was sent this Christmas Card by my cousin.

#4 The students are taught English by Mr. Suzuki.

#5 The children are read a story every night by her.

#6 I wasn't told the truth by him.

#7 I was asked several questions by the boy.

#8 I was given this T-shirt by my uncle.

[Mallaien]

Anuradha Chepur

I am a native speaker, but the way the original question was posted I would assume that you choose the answer, and not rewrite the sentance.

so my answers would have been based on the sentance stucture that was provided, even though their poor examples.
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[Anuradha Chepur]

Mallaien,

I didn't mean to say that native speakers might not be aware of the usage. What I wanted to know was whether native speakers really approve those sentences or had to approve them because of the way the question was posted.

[CP]

The sentences given are understood but would not be often used by a native speaker. I assume the point of the exercise was to practice using or omitting "to" when an indirect object is used. I think Dr. Chepur's sentences are more likely to be spontaneously produced than the original ones in the question, but even so, the passive voice is used only rarely, and usually for some special emphasis.
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[Mallaien]

Anuradha Chepur

well basically, like CP commented on, American, native english has gotten alot more relaxed in rigid rules. On the other hand like you if I was learning PhD level english I would be expeted to follow the rules if I expeded to pass my classes.

The average person in the US with a BA, or BS degree still take a more relaxed approach to english grammer.

As for approval, even I see thoes sentance as novic level in sturcture, very basic in grammer, and vocabulary.

For background, I was tought in private school, and the school had a higher level of expectation's for passing grades, as apposed to public school. My younger brother went to a public school, and I see students here that have a better hand on the english language then he has. His reading skill could be that of a middle school student even though he graduated from highschool.
_________________
Visit my Blog on a Chinese web site. I discuss many things about American culture, and the site is getting quite popular. http://mallaien.blog.sohu.com/