5
  1. I asked (him) to clean his room.
  2. I demanded (him) to take me to the hospital by car.
  3. I told (him) to make up with his friend.

I think it isn't grammatically wrong to omit "him", because we can see clearly it's not "I" to clean, take, and make up by context.

Q1) Would native speakers omit objects if context is clear even if it's not grammatically correct?

Q2) Are those sentences grammatically wrong if him is omitted?

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
15

Yes, it is wrong to omit those objects, and native speakers would not do it. It's actually not clear that it is not "I" doing the cleaning and taking if you omit them.

"I asked to clean his room" means that I asked for permission to clean his room; that is, "I" want to do the cleaning. Otherwise, the object needs to be specified: "I asked him to clean his room."

Similarly, "I demanded " implied that "I" am the subject of the infinitive, as in "I demanded to speak to a manager." Again, "I" am the one who is going to do the speaking. When demanding something of someone else, you need to change the preposition to match, as well as specifying the object: "I demanded of him to take me" or, better: "I demanded that he take me."

"Told" is a purely transitive verb, so it's completely ungrammatical to omit the object. "I told to make up" is simply incorrect and does not mean anything at all. You need to specify the object: "I told him to make up."

Improve this answer
6
  • "told" can be used with an implied object, generally in reference to reporting a misdeed. "They asked Jane to keep their secret, but she told" or "Jack told on me" Not the same contruction as in the question, of course.
    – David Siegel
    Commented May 13, 2019 at 14:36
  • An object can be "me" or "myself", but it can't be "I". In "I asked to clean his room", the infinitive is the object of "asked", and "his room" is the object of "clean" within the infinitive. "I demanded to speak to a manager" works exactly the same way. "I" is not in any way an object in either case. Only in the "I demanded that he take me" example is "me" an object (but not "I", which is purely nominative).
    – Monty Harder
    Commented May 13, 2019 at 16:23
  • The pronoun can be omitted in the first sentence. (As you yourself say, contradicting your first sentence.) Just not in the second or third sentences.
    – Jason Bassford
    Commented May 13, 2019 at 17:55
  • 2
    @JasonBassford It can be omitted, but doing so results in a different meaning.
    – Acccumulation
    Commented May 13, 2019 at 21:40
  • As an incidental point, in my experience, at least, the object of the verb "demand" is always what is being demanded, never the person it is being demanded from. For example, "I demanded a refund." is correct but "I demanded him to give me a refund." is definitely not. To be correct (at least for me) example two should be "I demanded that he take me to the hospital".
    – Chris Barry
    Commented May 13, 2019 at 23:08
1

In the 1st sentence "I asked (him) to clean his room." you can omit "him," but it is then not clear whom you asked.

In the 2nd sentence "I demanded (him) to take me to the hospital by car" you can also omit "him," but it is then again not clear whom you demanded.

In the 3d sentence "I told (him) to make up with his friend." you cannot omit him, because "told" without a pronoun has no sense.

Improve this answer
2
  • 3
    This is not quite correct. The first sentence, at least, has meaning, just not the intended meaning. But in any case I have downvoted this answer because it is too brief -- it gives no explanation why, and provides no examples of when you can and can not omit the indirect object.
    – Andrew
    Commented May 13, 2019 at 14:42
  • I did not read the sentences carefully, so I edited my answer.
    – Jan
    Commented May 13, 2019 at 14:48

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .