I'm just wondering what made him go to Paris.

[Nonverbis]

I'm just wondering what made him go to Paris.

This construction is understandable.

Could you help me understand whether such construction is possible with negation:

I'm just wondering what made him not go to Paris.

 

[teechar]

It's possible, and you can even add "about" after "wondering".

 

[jutfrank]

you can even add "about" after "wondering".

I'm very surprised to hear this. I'd say that's completely wrong!

 

[teechar]

I'm very surprised to hear this. I'd say that's completely wrong!

Why is that? Do you not use "wonder about" in your variety of English?

 

[jutfrank]

Why is that? Do you not use "wonder about" in your variety of English?

Yes, but not usually with wh-clauses. This is an interesting difference. Could you tell me which of the following you'd find it okay to add about with no change in meaning?:

I wonder how she is.
I wonder where she went.
I'm just wondering what to do.
I was wondering whether you could help me.
I just wonder what on earth she could have done.

If none of them, could you say what you think might make the OP sentence different?

 

[Nonverbis]

Could you tell me what is an OP sentence?

 

[Phaedrus]

I'm just wondering what made him not go to Paris.

I agree that that is possible. Normally, however, most of us would say:

I'm just wondering why he didn't go to Paris.

 

[emsr2d2]

Could you tell me what is an OP sentence?

OP = original poster (in this case, you)
OP's sentence = the original poster's sentence

Some people seem to use OP to mean "original post" but that's not the general accepted meaning here.

 

[jutfrank]

OP = original poster (in this case, you)
OP's sentence = the original poster's sentence

Some people seem to use OP to mean "original post" but that's not the general accepted meaning here.

I'm in the habit of writing the OP sentence, to mean the sentence from the original post. I'll try to stop doing that.

I do think it's more useful to use OP to refer to the post, however, rather than the poster, but I can try to stop doing that too if people really don't like it.

 

[teechar]

Yes, but not usually with wh-clauses. This is an interesting difference. Could you tell me which of the following you'd find it okay to add about with no change in meaning?:

I wonder how she is.
I wonder where she went.
I'm just wondering what to do.
I was wondering whether you could help me.
I just wonder what on earth she could have done.

If none of them, could you say what you think might make the OP sentence different?

It's interesting that you didn't include one example with "what" in it. I don't see how adding "about" to the OP's sentences would change the meaning.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm just wondering what to do.
I just wonder what on earth she could have done.

It's interesting that you didn't include one example with "what" in it.

There were two examples with "what".

 

[emsr2d2]

I wouldn't use "wonder about" followed by a wh- either. I'd use it in things like:

I'm wondering about my brother. I haven't heard from him for a while. I hope he's OK.
I'm wondering about going to Brazil for my next holiday. It's expensive but it sounds like fun.

 

[jutfrank]

In terms of meaning, I think the difference with an added about is very basically the same difference as when used with the verb think.

I'm trying to think what to do.
*I'm trying to think about what to do.

I'm thinking about going to Brazil.
*I'm thinking going to Brazil.

If you add a preposition to any phrase, you necessarily introduce the meaning of that preposition into the phrase as a whole.

 

[Tarheel]

I'm in the habit of writing the OP sentence, to mean the sentence from the original post. I'll try to stop doing that.

I do think it's more useful to use OP to refer to the post, however, rather than the poster, but I can try to stop doing that too if people really don't like it.

Well, I'm pretty sure I do the same thing you do. (I have always thought OP means either "original post" or "original poster" with context making it clear which is intended.)

 

[jutfrank]

Well, I'm pretty sure I do the same thing you do. (I have always thought OP means either "original post" or "original poster" with context making it clear which is intended.)

Yes, I think it's pretty clear, as well as being convenient. We often need to say 'the original post', whereas we rarely need to say 'the original poster'—most members refer to each other by username.

 

[teechar]

Just for the record, I completely disagree with jutfrank and emsr2d2 on this. While I do acknowledge that in some cases the addition of "about" can change the meaning, this does not apply to the OP's sentences. I think the meaning would not change significantly.

For our learners:
"wonder" ( without about) can mean "would like to know".
"wonder about" means "think about".
In some sentences, either can work, and often the meaning would be so close as to make the choice between the two insignificant.

And here are some examples showing the use of "wondering about what":

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[Tarheel]

I'm just wondering what made him go to Paris.

This construction is understandable.

Could you help me understand whether such construction is possible with negation:

I'm just wondering what made him not go to Paris.

I know this is not what you asked, but more natural would be:

I wonder why he went to Paris.

And:

I wonder what kept him from going to Paris.

 

[PaulMatthews]

I’m just wondering (about) what made him not go to Paris.

This seems grammatically fine to me.

Some subordinate interrogatives (embedded questions) allow "about" to be optionally added, while in other cases it may be obligatory or inadmissible. In this case, I'd say that it's optional. Interestingly, we naturally use it when considering the meaning, which is:

"I'm just wondering about the answer to the question 'What made him not go to Paris?'"

 

[Tarheel]

Or:

Why didn't he go to Paris?

The most natural sentence is usually the least complicated.

 

[jutfrank]

Interestingly, we naturally use it when considering the meaning, which is:

"I'm just wondering about the answer to the question 'What made him not go to Paris?'"

Yes, but that's because you've used wonder about something in your paraphrase. Of course, we can't wonder something (without about), unless 'something' is a wh- infinitive or a wh-clause. The NP the answer to the question can't work as a direct object of wonder.

An equally suitable paraphrase of the question in the OP would be: I'm just considering the answer to the question 'What made him not go to Paris?'