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Sometimes told/told sometimes

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Latest post Fri, Oct 31 2008 5:48 AM by Avangi. 1 replies.
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MaverickK  +  582070 Fri, 31 Oct 08 05:20 AM
Hi,

Here a sentence has been broken into 4 parts.We have to identify which part is grammatically or usage wise incorrect.

1. It is sometimes told that democratic
2. government originated in the city-states
3. of ancient Greece. Democratic ideals have been handed to us from that time.
4. In truth, however, this is an unhelpful assertion.

I feel that the first part,third part and the 4th part are correct. There can be something incorrect in the usage of city-states(i am not
sure).Please help.
MaverickK
Joined on Wed, Dec 26 2007
Junior Member 61
Avangi  +  582073 Fri, 31 Oct 08 05:48 AM
Hi,

IMHO only the first segment has a grammatical problem.  The verb "to tell" requires an indirect object as well as a direct object.  "I told her to get lost."  I can think of examples where this is overturned, such as, "This story has never been told."  But to my ear, it doesn't work in this sentence.  I'd say, "It is sometimes said that democratic gvt. etc."

Best wishes,  - A.

Edit.  Guess I'm having a bad day.  It now seems to me that in my sentence "I told her to get lost," her is the direct object.  I have no idea what "to get lost" is called.

"Tell me a story."  "Give me a break."  I'm hopelessly confused.  I want "me" to be the indirect object in both sentences.
Avangi
Joined on Mon, Nov 19 2007
Veteran Member 8,172
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