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: 2010-09-06 07:06 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bothwill.livejournal.com
It doesn't matter which one sounds better, it matters which form is correct. I believe "from" has been gaining popularity and I also think newspapers had an influence on that. Frankly at this point either of these two words seems to fit the expression but I think I rather ask the opinion of my private esl tutoring (http://www.private-english-tutor.com/) for more valuable arguments.

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