Seung-Man:

I can't speak for other native speakers, of course, so all of the following are just my own reactions. 

All of the "b" versions sound wrong to me, and so do the "a" versions with "me" or "For." The "a" versions with "To Mary" sound slightly better -- flowery, perhaps, and faux-poetic, but possible. I suspect, however, the fact they sound possible to me is a function of my reading habits, and that a random sample of English-speakers would show a lot of variation in responses to those. Similar kinds of sentences occur more often in older works and modern authors' attempts to emulate an archaic or poetic style (it's "Shakespeare-y" or "King James-y"), and exposure to a lot of that is bound to have an effect. Just change "To" to "Unto," and you get a classic bad fantasy-novel effect ("Unto Bjarki was given the sword...").

Bill Spruiell

 



-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar on behalf of Seung-Man
Sent: Wed 4/28/2010 8:35 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Grammatical Judgment
 
Hi, all native speakers! 


I am currently working on a research on the passive of the indirect object in 

double object constructions in English. I wonder how are sentences 

with a Dative Indirect Object passivized and a preposition stranded from its object. 
II desperately need your grammatical judgment on the sentences below on 4 scales: 
1 (sounds natural), 2 (sounds ok), 3 (sounds weird), and 4 (ungrammatical). 
Would you please rate them according to the scale? 


1a. To me was given this watch (by John). 
1b. I was given this watch to (by John). 
2a. To Mary was written a letter (by John). 
2b. Mary was written a letter to (by John). 
3a. To Mary was kissed goodnight (by John). 
3b. Mary was kissed goodnight to (by John). 
4a. To Mary was sent an email message (by John). 
4b. Mary was sent an email message to (by John). 
5a. To Mary was sold a used car (by John). 
5b. Mary was sold a used car to (by John). 
6a. For Mary was envied her wealth (by John). 
6b. Mary was envied her wealth for (by John). 
7a. For Mary was bought a rose (by John). 
7b. Mary was bought a rose for (by John). 
8a. For the child was made a doll (by Mary). 
8b. The child was made a doll for (by Mary). 
9a. To Mary was sung a beautiful song (by John). 
9b. Mary was sung a beautiful song to (by John). 


I greatly appreciate your valuable judgment in advance. 
Seung-man 


	



Kang, Seung-Man 

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