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Of or To?

Of or To?

Of or To?

(OP)
Which is correct?  I'm dumbfounded.

"Ask this question of 50 different people, and you will undoubtedly get 50 different answers."

"Ask this question to 50 different people, and you will undoubtedly get 50 different answers."

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: Of or To?

You can "ask" a question "of" someone, or "put" a question "to" them.

I don't think you can "ask" a question "to" someone. (It certainly sounds wrong to me, anyway!)

RE: Of or To?

Also, undoubtedly is wasted. Will means will, not won't or maybe. So in that context neither sentence is correct.
Sorry, feeling picky today.

RE: Of or To?

Are you saying that "...you will probably get..." would be incorrect?

I, in all honesty, would probably say "ask to". That is not to say that this is correct though.

Actually, I'd more than likely say "ask fifty (50)* people this question", but that doesn't answer yours.



*Sorry, couldn't resist.

"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go past." Douglas Adams

RE: Of or To?

My opinion: JulianHardy is right. Examples follow.

Debriefing: questioning of a spy, pilot, diplomat, or the like on his return from a mission.

Interrogating: asking questions of people in a probing, examining way.

One may ask 50 different people to provide answers.

It appears true beyond question: as long as the answer is right, who cares if the question is wrong ?

RE: Of or To?

RobWard
Yeah, should get is better than will probably.

RE: Of or To?

(OP)
Thanks for the feedback, I agree that "of" should be used, and I've removed the use of "undoubtedly."

But I'm not going to use fifty (50).

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: Of or To?

I think whether you use 'to' or 'of' depends on the direction of the action.  Please consider these two:

favor of someone ==> action is from the someone
favor to someone ==> action is to the someone

In this example, the emphasis seems to be on the asking of a question.  Further, I think that 'question of' might be ambiguous, whether it's a question about the people, or one directed towards the people.  "It's a question of people driving under the influence", or "It's a question of people showing proper respect towards others".

I'm leaning towards 'question to'.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

RE: Of or To?

MadMango,

rnd2 was wrong to say [i]undoubtedly[i] is wasted. I understand that you us this word to mean [i]without a doubt[i] and place emphasis on that fact.

Language is meant to be colorful and project your personality in what you spreak and write, not to be reduced to robitic bore.
 

NozzleTwister
Houston, Texas

RE: Of or To?

[warning: foaming-at-the-mouth linguist strikes again]

CajunCenturion:  But it's not "question of/to".  It's "ask of".

There's no point in trying to apply logic to prepositions.  They're mostly idiomatic, not just in English but in other languages as well.

In English:

* You say something (words) to someone.

* You tell someone something (a fact), or you might tell something (a secret) to someone.

* You ask someone something (a question), or you ask something (a favor or a question) of someone, or you ask someone for something (a favor or a thing), or you ask a question about something (anything or anyone).  Or you might ask a question (in order) to achieve something else.

* You put or pose a question to someone.  You could also send (mail, fax) a question to someone.

* "Question to" also appears in the sequence "This is the question to ask", where "to" is an infinitive particle and not a preposition.


There is no ambiguity in the two-word sequence "question of" when put in full context.

"I asked a question of Bob."  This can only mean I asked Bob a question.  It cannot mean I asked a question about Bob, regardless of what "of" might mean in other contexts.  If I substitute some other entity that can't answer questions, the sentence no longer makes sense:  "I asked a question of mountains."  The idiom in that case should be "I asked a question about mountains."

"That's a question of values."  This cannot mean I asked "values" a question.  This means the question deals with values.  This only works with fairly abstract notions.  You can have a question of values, or of Bob's willingness to work, but not of mountains or of Bob.  For those you need "about".


The answer to the original question is "of".  No ifs, ands, or buts.  It's a basic and random fact of (American) English grammar and logic has nothing to do with it.


ObLinguistDisclaimer:  Except, of course, for those people whose dialect is different...


Actually, I'd be interested to know if this varies by country.

Hg

RE: Of or To?

"I asked a question of Bob."
This sentence implies a third party is being spoken to.
"I asked a question (directed) to Bob" makes more sense.

RE: Of or To?

Hg's response makes the most sense, except that in the original question, "of", proper as it may be, still sounds awkward.

My two choices would be:

"Ask 50 different people this question, and you will undoubtedly get 50 different answers."

or

"Pose (or put) this question to 50 different people, and you will undoubtedly get 50 different answers."

RE: Of or To?

"ask a question of X" is rarer and more formal than "ask X a question".  If I were writing it, I'd go with fastasleep's first version.

Hg

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