promise O to inf

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TTiger
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promise O to inf

Post by TTiger »

Hi ,

These sentences have two objects respectively : S + V + IO + DO

I promise you to go there. vs. I promise you that I will go there.


Which sentence is grammatical ?

I think "to infinitive" should not be used as 'Direct Object' in the first example.

So it should be replaced with "that clause".

This is my idea. Am I right?

Thanks in advance,
Good Day!
TT
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Joe
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Re: promise O to inf

Post by Joe »

You can say:

I promise to go there.

OR

I promise you that I will go there.
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TTiger
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Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2013 6:22 pm
Status: Learner of English

Re: promise O to inf

Post by TTiger »

I appreciate your reply , Josef.

Sometimes some grammar books show "promise O to inf" as examples but I couldn't find such sentence usages in any dictionaries.

That has caused me to be confused lately. :roll:

Finally I have come to conclusion that above example is seldom used. :-D

Thanks
TT
Twixtfanatic
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Re: promise O to inf

Post by Twixtfanatic »

It is not uncommon to say "I promise to go there" or "I promise you that I will go there." One might also say "I promise I will go there" or "I promise you, I will go there" using a comma. The problem with "I promise you to go there" is that it sounds ambiguous. Are you promising that you will go there, or that the person you are addressing will go there? It might even mean that you make a promise to your subject, and what you are promising exactly is not clear, but you are making this promise IN ORDER TO go there. The other grammatical forms more clearly state the intended meaning.
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