promise somebody or to somebody

Status
Not open for further replies.

worcester

Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2013
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Great Britain
Current Location
Great Britain
Hello everyone,

1. "He promised me to never do it again."
2. "He promised to me to never do it again."

Are these sentences correct? Do I need "to" after promise to introduce the object?

Thank you.
 

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
Only 1 is correct.
 

worcester

Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2013
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Great Britain
Current Location
Great Britain
Thank you Rover_KE for your answer.

Am I correct to understand that if we have promise+direct object we use "to" and if we have promise+indirect object then we do not use "to".
1."He promised riches to her."
2. "He promised her a lot of money."

Thank you.
 

Jaskin

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2007
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Polish
Home Country
Poland
Current Location
UK

worcester

Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2013
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Great Britain
Current Location
Great Britain
Should it be "promise something to somebody" and "promise somebody something"?

Thank you.
 

Raymott

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Australia
Current Location
Australia
Should it be "promise something to somebody" and "promise somebody something"?
Yes, but that's nothing specific to promising. That's just the usual way of using a direct and an indirect object together.
"I gave him something; I gave something to him". You can substitute pretty much any ditransitive verb.
 

Raymott

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Australia
Current Location
Australia

Raymott

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Australia
Current Location
Australia
Can you find "promise something to somebody" there?
Yes, but that's not "promise to somebody something". That's my point, and it's in my posts above.
"Give the book to him" is correct. "Give to him the book" is incorrect. It's works for 'promise' and most ditransitive verbs.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top