Timeline for Any difference between "give five dollars to him" and "give him five dollars"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
9 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| May 10, 2020 at 16:17 | history | edited | tchrist♦ | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
formatting, typesetting, and clarifications
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| May 10, 2020 at 16:17 | answer | added | Greybeard | timeline score: 2 | |
| May 10, 2020 at 16:03 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | "I gave five dollars to John" sounds rather unusual to my ears. I think it would usually be triggered by context, eg "I've given the kids their fare home ... I gave Tracy and Luke three dollars, and I gave five dollars to John." This fronts the amount given to John, rather than John, emphasising the difference in amount given. _But either usage is 'correct', and the S-V-IO-DO usage more common. | |
| May 10, 2020 at 15:50 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | @David I'm guessing (and the comments have now gone), but it's often considered the least of three evils to close-vote and give an answer in 'comments' (less than CV-ing and answer ing, or leaving OP in the dark). | |
| May 10, 2020 at 15:42 | answer | added | Jason Bassford | timeline score: 1 | |
| May 10, 2020 at 14:56 | comment | added | Hot Licks | They mean essentially the same thing. The difference is in emphasis -- the thing named first usually receives more attention. Of course, whether John still has the five dollars or spent it on booze is impossible to answer. | |
| May 10, 2020 at 9:33 | review | Close votes | |||
| May 27, 2020 at 3:07 | |||||
| May 10, 2020 at 9:11 | review | First posts | |||
| May 10, 2020 at 9:31 | |||||
| May 10, 2020 at 9:07 | history | asked | user13353317 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |