[Grammar] Tell it

Status
Not open for further replies.

Kotfor

Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2011
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Ukrainian
Home Country
Belarus
Current Location
Ukraine
I know that "I will tell it to you" is an idiomatic way to say but what about "I will tell it you." Is it acceptable?
 

Grumpy

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2009
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I know that "I will tell it to you" is an idiomatic way to say but what about "I will tell it you." Is it acceptable?
No. You might also say "I will tell you about it", or simply, "I will tell you".
 

charliedeut

VIP Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2009
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Spanish
Home Country
Spain
Current Location
Spain
Nitpicking is not answering.

But it is providing help. In this case, helping you finish the sentence with the missing question mark. Note that Odessa is not a native speaker of English. Maybe Odessa did not know the answer, or did not want to risk giving you one that was wrong, but spotted your mistake (or slip of the finger).

Writing properly is encouraged here, as you already know. That includes (among other things) correct capitalization and punctuation.

My suggestion: if it bothers you to be corrected, please ignore such posts in the future. Answering as you did is, in my opinion, inelegant.
 

Roman55

Key Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2014
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Italy
Current Location
France
I am not a teacher.

'I will tell it you' and 'I will give it you' and other similar constructions are not standard English, but they do appear in certain local variants.
 

Kotfor

Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2011
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Ukrainian
Home Country
Belarus
Current Location
Ukraine
But it is providing help. In this case, helping you finish the sentence with the missing question mark. Note that Odessa is not a native speaker of English. Maybe Odessa did not know the answer, or did not want to risk giving you one that was wrong, but spotted your mistake (or slip of the finger).

Writing properly is encouraged here, as you already know. That includes (among other things) correct capitalization and punctuation.

My suggestion: if it bothers you to be corrected, please ignore such posts in the future. Answering as you did is, in my opinion, inelegant.
I prefer to be corrected by those who address my questions and not by those who want to show off. Others answered much better.
 

tzfujimino

Key Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2007
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Japanese
Home Country
Japan
Current Location
Japan
I prefer to be corrected by those who address my questions and not by those who want to show off. Others answered much better.

Hello, Kotfor.:-D
I'm sure Odessa Dawn didn't mean to hurt your feelings.
OD is quite good at spotting punctuation/capitalization mistakes.:-D
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
I'd say the form is OK in spoken colloquial English because the form is used in many regions. I would recommend writing it or using it in any formal context.

I prefer to be corrected by those who address my questions and not by those who want to show off. Others answered much better.

Many people want their mistakes to be pointed out. How was OD to know that you'd react like that?
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I prefer to be corrected by those who address my questions and not by those who want to show off. Others answered much better.

No-one is showing off. We correct all mistakes here, whether they are with capitalisation and punctuation or with grammar, vocabulary and construction. You will get a range of answers from lots of different people. I suggest that you accept the help and advice in the spirit in which it was given.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top