Re: hire /free of

Clive — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:19:12 GMT

Hi,

I am wondering whether the hire has two objects.
Would you take a look at a sentence below and share your opinion?

---> His parents were amazed and then hired him a piano teacher.
This is OK. There is a direct object (piano teacher) and an indirect object (him). You could also write this sentence as . . . hired a piano teacher for him.
Many verbs can have a direct + an indirect object.

And for another thing, in the usage of 'be free of' and 'be free from', what differences are there between them? Generally speaking, I don't see any difference, in your example. To some extent, it just depends on context. To get a feeling for this, you simply need to read and listen to a lot of English.
eg Tom is free of debt. Tom is free from debt. Both of these are OK.
eg Tom is free from jail. But not Tom is free of jail.
How should I know when I use 'free of' and when 'free from'?
Any method to figure out it?
The sentence below is the one that made me question about it.

----> At first he wanted to be free of what he thought would be a “monster baby."

Best wishes, Clive

hire /free of

Pb03 — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:07:50 GMT

Hello everyone,

I am wondering whether the hire has two objects.
Would you take a look at a sentence below and share your opinion?

---> His parents were amazed and then hired him a piano teacher.

And for another thing, in the usage of 'be free of' and 'be free from', what differences are there between them?
How should I know when I use 'free of' and when 'free from'?
Any method to figure out it?
The sentence below is the one that made me question about it.

----> At first he wanted to be free of what he thought would be a “monster baby."

Thanks a lot ~ ^^

pb

ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: hire /free of

hire /free of