John told Fred something.
John spoke to Fred about it.
John warned Fred.
Fred listened to John.
There is a rich variety of words describing communication between two people. The verbs have different connections, but all mean the same thing – information was passed between the two people. The verbs can be classified into four groups:
Examples:
Tell
Warn
Instruct
Inform
A form where
John told Fred something
and the something can be a clause, with the clausal pronoun falling into disuse –
He warned John that the bridge was faulty.
He warned John the bridge was faulty.
Most of these verbs are also transinfinitive – the object of the verb becomes the subject of the following infinitive, as
He warned John to avoid ladders.
He informed John to avoid prosecution – not transinfinitive
These verbs can appear to be transitive, but can switch between object and second object, requiring recognition of the type of object for correct building. They can also appear to be ditransitive (but without the place switching of a ditransitive verb).
He told John
He told a story
He told John a story
The verb does not directly support a clause and the third place is not accessible except through a preposition or a passive form.
He spoke the truth to John.
He spoke about it
He asked John about it.
John was asked the meaning of his actions.
The verb can support a clause. The third place is inaccessible unless a special construction is used.
He heard the bridge was faulty.
He heard John say the bridge was faulty.
The object and second object are accessible only through prepositions.
He listened to the engine
He listened to the music
A person can listen to the sound or the source of the sound.
He told John the bridge was faulty.
He spoke to John about the faulty bridge.
Rather than have every verb linked, the synonym map links the parent forms of the different verbs.
The ways that "someone knows something" can be said:
John knows about it
John is conversant with it
I told John about it
I spoke to John about it.
We had a conversation about it
We discussed it
We chatted about it
I talked to him about it
I sketched it out for him
I gave him a presentation on it
He was given a report about it
He read about it
He was given an overview of it
He was made aware of it
He was regaled about it
He was lectured about it
He was instructed about it
He was briefed about it
He was filled in on it
He was in a meeting where it was brought up
I rang him about it
I kept John in the picture about it
I kept John up to date on it.
I brought him up to speed on it
I warned John about it
I suggested it to John
I know he looked at it
He oversaw the person who did it
He inspected the work of the person who did it
John heard about it
He learned about it
Everybody knew about it
John listened to Fred talk about it
Fred gave his opinion about it to John
He was within earshot when it was discussed
He wasn’t happy about it
He was shocked by it
He thought about it
He decided it was all right
He was involved in the negotiation for it
And lots more.
Many of these forms are Person-Person-Communication or Person-Communication-Person, so are easily caught.
See