In response to a question, I have to answer.
An example:
A: Hello B, can I go?
B: Ask C first.
A: I have already asked from C.
Is this grammatical?
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3No, it's not natural English. "I've already asked him" or "I've already asked for permission from 'xyz'" are the standard responses.– user21497Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 6:18
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1What @BillFranke said, or another very common response is: A - I already did.– JimCommented Dec 20, 2012 at 6:21
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1What @Jim said, or in BrE, "I already have."– Andrew Leach ♦Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 7:46
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1@Gangnus Because British English does not say "I just did," it says "I just have". British English does not use did in that way (except that people are beginning to, via an American influence).– Andrew Leach ♦Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 9:29
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1Apparently, the question is whether the given sentence is grammatical, whether to use "from" or another preposition or any at all, in I have already asked ___ C. I think OP is not asking for a better way of stating it.– KrisCommented Dec 20, 2012 at 15:15
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4 Answers
In British English:
I already have
I have already asked C
Are both correct.
You could probably also say:
I already did
You would definitely not say:
I did already
as that is American English, not British English.
answered Dec 22, 2012 at 23:24
To go straight to the answer, I have already asked from C is ungrammatical, because in most contexts ask is complemented by an indirect object (C) and not a preposition phrase (from C) to refer to the person asked. It has to be I have already asked C.
answered Dec 23, 2012 at 7:37
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"in most contexts" is non-exhaustive, while "ungrammatical" and "has to be" are categorical. I have quoted sentences to the contrary in my comments at OP.– KrisCommented Dec 24, 2012 at 6:45
A: Hello B, can I go?
B: Ask C first.
A can answer:
- I have already asked C.
- I already asked C.
- I did (already).
But ask isn't followed by the preposition from. You can ask someone of something, i.e.,
I already asked that of C.
But that is prohibitively formal for conversation.
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1
Follow-up answer to ash's answer: Non native speakers frequently have a prepositional or conceptual usage pattern in their native language that makes them interchange "of" and "from."
