Can one use forebode + obj. + on/upon someone? For example, would a sentence like His coming foreboded doom on/upon the village
be considered correct (in a sense that it predicted doom for the village) or would one rather use for
?
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Note that the past form of forebode is foreboded.– StoneyB on hiatusMar 16, 2017 at 20:59
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The use of "forebode" already has an dramatic-archaic feel so while "on" would be grammatical you might as well go for the more dramatic "upon", e.g. "I shall wreak mine vengeance upon thee and thy kin unto the youngest generation!" Might be a bit more dramatic than your example, though. :)– AndrewMar 16, 2017 at 21:31
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@Andrew Oh well, I couldn't really think of a good example :)– Ben SteffanMar 16, 2017 at 21:42
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1@BenSteffan your example is fine, I just went full Old Testament on it. Seriously though it's not really usual to use "forbode" in a sentence, unless you are intentionally talking like something out of the Lord of the Rings.– AndrewMar 16, 2017 at 21:55
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@Andrew It was about a school assignment (actually, interpreting a cariccature). The teacher thought my text was great, though.– Ben SteffanMar 17, 2017 at 13:44
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1 Answer
Forebode does not take a recipient, either as an indirect object or a prepositional oblique.
With forebode doom upon X, the preposition phrase is therefore not a complement to forebode but a modifier on doom: what is foreboded is that doom will fall upon X.
Doom for X to my ear works even better.