Usage of the verb "Write"

Factual Questions
1

I just read this at the bottom of one of Cecil’s columns

Quote: "…Write Cecil at the Chicago Reader, 11 E. Illinois, Chicago 60611, or E-mail him at cecil@chicagoreader.com…"End Quote

and that set me thinking on the usage of the verb “Write”.

I see this very commonplace in the US and am not too sure if is correct. I would have said “Write to Cecil”. To me when one says it without the “to” then it means that the afrementioned quote would mean you are being asked to actually scribble/type the words that follow.

Any points of view or does anybody care?

2

i would have to agree. putting the word “Cecil” right after the word “write” makes me think one of two things:

  1. that “Cecil” is an adjective to “write”

  2. that there should be a comma between the two words and Cecil should be the one doing the writing.

3

i would have to agree. putting the word “Cecil” right after the word “write” makes me think one of two things:

  1. that “Cecil” is an adjective to “write”

  2. that there should be a comma between the two words and Cecil should be the one doing the writing.

4

Why not look at a dictionary?

“Write” is listed as both transitive and intransitive, and the idea of writing a letter can be either. In the transitive form, it can use a direct object (“Write Cecil.”) and there’s a definition “To communicate by correspondence.”

Would you object to the form “Write me a letter?” Is “Write Cecil a letter” incorrect? If not, then why should “Write Cecil” be incorrect?

5

While it strikes me that when precisely scanning the sentence, it could appear that the verb Write is being issued as a command, two thoughts come to mind:

  1. An “ellipse” is a grammatical concept where sentence parts that are understood to exist are left off. For instance: “Apropos the event” instead of the full “apropos of the event” or “Babe Ruth was one great Yankee. Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio were, too” instead of the full “Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio were great Yankees, too”. I think that in the phrase “Write Cecil” the “to” is understood to be there but left off via an ellipse - and the phrase works in common conversation.

  2. Kind of a tangential point, but if it were a declarative statement, wouldn’t the phrase the person is being commanded to write be delineated by quotes or a colon or something - e.g., :

Write: Cecil at …

or

Write “Cecil at…”

If this second observation is grammatically correct, it would further reinforce the hypothesis that the phrase is meant to be considered an ellipse.

6

I wouldn’t disagree with what RealityChuck or WordMan have said, but it’s also a matter of usage and American and British usage would differ in this case. A British person would always use “write to Cecil”.

Have a look at this thread for more of the same.

7

In this case, “Cecil” is an indirect object, and the direct object is missing. You could say “Write Cecil a letter,” which would state the direct object (letter). It’s like saying “Give Jim a big hand.”

I’m just a software engineer, any English teachers out there?

8

The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary has a definition

9

Fowler, writing for a British audience, said