ellenkushner: (Default)
[personal profile] ellenkushner
What is with this forbade from? Isn't it forbade to?

I hear/see it all the time now - on NPR, in a recent (excellent) story in the NYTimes, even on Neil Gaiman's blog! It's (mis?)used most often in the past tense: "They forbade them from landing on the beach." Isn't it "They they forbade them to land..."? Move it to the imperative and it becomes clearer: surely it's "I forbid you to open that door!" - not "I forbid you from opening that door!"

Is this a language elision, a regionalism, or what?

Date: 2008-04-10 05:34 pm (UTC)
feuervogel: photo of the statue of Victory and her chariot on the Brandenburg Gate (up to no good)
From: [personal profile] feuervogel
Not exactly?

(But, man, I haven't had a chance to use grammar words since high school.)

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