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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