Scott,
I’ve been wrestling with the “told” problem
already today, and it’s my current hypothesis that “told of”
is a phrasal verb, different from “told.” <he told of the
weather to his friends> would be qualitatively different from <he told
the weather to his friends>.
<he told his friends the truth> I believe your
analysis is correct.
<he told his friends> is elliptical with an implied direct
object
<he told the truth> there doesn’t have to be an
implied indirect object grammatically, though there would always be an audience
rhetorically
<he told the truth to his friends> friends is the indirect
object even though it comes in the prepositional phrase afterwards
<he told his friends about the truth> perhaps another
phrasal verb? “told about”?
<he told his friends that the truth can be found> yes,
there is a nominal clause as the direct object; “he told his friends
[something]”
What do you all think? Phrasal verb? I know that the
particles of phrasal verbs are often confused as prepositions.
J. Hill
From: Assembly for the
Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Scott
Woods
Sent: Friday, September 03, 2010 2:15 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: nominal use of prepositional phrases? prep phrase as direct
object?
Dear List,
Does it make sense that a prepositional phrase can be used
nominally? If it makes sense to substitute "that,"
"this," "it," or some other pronoun for the
prepositional phrase, could it make sense to call a prepositional phrase a
direct object?
For instance: in <he told his friends of the peculiar
weather>, does it make sense to call "friends" the indirect object
and "of the peculiar weather" the direct object? In <he
told his friends the truth> would "friends" be the indirect object
and "truth" the direct object? In <he told his
friends> is "friends" a direct object, or an indirect object
with an implied direct object? In <he told the truth> is there an implied
indirect object, those who were told? In <he told the truth to his
friends> is "truth" the direct object and "friends" the
indirect object in a prepositional phrase? In <he told his friends
about the truth> is "friends" the indirect object and "about
the truth" the direct object? In <he told his friends that the truth
can be found> is "that the truth can be found" a clausal direct
object? How else could these be analyzed?
Thanks for your help,
Scott Woods
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