apologized to Tom for being late/ apologized to Tom for being late

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optimistic pessimist

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Dear all,

I would like to ask about the word order of the sentences below.

1. I apologized to Tom for being late.
2. I apologized for being late to Tom.

I understand #1 sounds natural. Is #2 also fine depending on the context?

Thank you.

OP
 

BobK

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I wouldn't say ' fine depending on the context' - which strikes me as a bit too accommodating. But it's certainly true that there are a few contexts that would make that usage acceptable.

Example: 'I apologized for being late... to Tom but not to Dick or Harry'

(But in that context you could equally say 'I apologized to Tom - but not to Dick or Harry - for being late '

b
 

Tdol

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It's the sort of thing you could hear, with to Tom being tacked on. In writing, it looks a bit odd, without a context like BobK's
 
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