Can someone clarify whether or not this is correct grammar?
July 18, 2013 3:44 AM Subscribe
It drives me insane when someone says "request for," e.g. "I requested for a seat change." Isn't it just "I requested a seat change"? This is different from when someone says "I made a request for a seat change." That doesn't bother me. Googling doesn't help me with the answer for this. Am I wrong for this to feel like nails on a blackboard?
Best answer: The object of "request" is the thing you're requesting, so there's no need to put "for" there. This sounds like confusion with "ask"; the object of "ask" is the person you're asking, so if you want to link the word "ask" with the thing you're requesting, you need a preposition.
In "I made a request for a seat change", "request" is being used as a noun, which is completely different.
So I can understand why it's annoying.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 3:57 AM on July 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
In "I made a request for a seat change", "request" is being used as a noun, which is completely different.
So I can understand why it's annoying.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 3:57 AM on July 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
Best answer: "requested" = "asked for"
"requested for" = "asked for for"
posted by jon1270 at 3:59 AM on July 18, 2013 [8 favorites]
"requested for" = "asked for for"
posted by jon1270 at 3:59 AM on July 18, 2013 [8 favorites]
It's certainly idiomatically incorrect. Whether that's the same thing as grammatically incorrect is left as an exercise for the reader.
posted by valkyryn at 4:01 AM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by valkyryn at 4:01 AM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
I don't know who is saying this, but yes, it's grammatically incorrect. It would drive me nuts, too.
posted by Salamander at 4:01 AM on July 18, 2013
posted by Salamander at 4:01 AM on July 18, 2013
It's idiomatic. Like "get on" a bus vs. "get in" a car, or "go to" a house vs. "go" home.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 4:09 AM on July 18, 2013
posted by Joseph Gurl at 4:09 AM on July 18, 2013
Another vote for incorrect. I would guess the "requested for" is an overcorrection backformed from the correct "a request for". Anyway...
posted by crocomancer at 4:14 AM on July 18, 2013
posted by crocomancer at 4:14 AM on July 18, 2013
Best answer: Another reason why you might find "request for" annoying: apart from being nonstandard, it has a kind of pomposity about it. It's the kind of thing someone says if they don't think "ask" is sufficiently impressive-sounding but can't be bothered rethinking their sentence so that "request" really fits.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 4:18 AM on July 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 4:18 AM on July 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
It drives me insane when someone says "request for," e.g. "I requested for a seat change."
FWIW, "request for" can be just fine, e.g. "I put in a request for a transfer." It's the "-ed" that makes it a problem.
posted by jon1270 at 4:25 AM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
FWIW, "request for" can be just fine, e.g. "I put in a request for a transfer." It's the "-ed" that makes it a problem.
posted by jon1270 at 4:25 AM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: As a descriptivist (where things that other people say are "wrong" are usually just "non-standard") it appears to be a feature of Nigerian English.
There is a case where "requested for" is standard in British/American English, when it's followed by a verb phrase:
I requested for the package to be sent to me.
I requested for my iPhone to be unlocked.
So I suspect that in the cases where people may use "requested for," people may be under pressure to use more formal language (or else they'd use "asked") and getting their wires crossed between "asked for," "requested," and the "requested for" that actually is standard.
posted by Jeanne at 4:26 AM on July 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
There is a case where "requested for" is standard in British/American English, when it's followed by a verb phrase:
I requested for the package to be sent to me.
I requested for my iPhone to be unlocked.
So I suspect that in the cases where people may use "requested for," people may be under pressure to use more formal language (or else they'd use "asked") and getting their wires crossed between "asked for," "requested," and the "requested for" that actually is standard.
posted by Jeanne at 4:26 AM on July 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
Best answer: It's idiomatic. Like "get on" a bus vs. "get in" a car, or "go to" a house vs. "go" home.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 4:09 AM on July 18 [+] [!]
No, it's not idiomatic. The examples you gave are grammatically correct, and they're called verb/noun collocations when teaching English to non-native speakers (source: ESL teacher for many years, BA in English).
'Request for + [noun]' is just plain wrong. I don't have my copy to hand, but if you can get your hands on 'Practical English Usage' by Michael Swan, I bet it'll be covered.
posted by Salamander at 4:28 AM on July 18, 2013
posted by Joseph Gurl at 4:09 AM on July 18 [+] [!]
No, it's not idiomatic. The examples you gave are grammatically correct, and they're called verb/noun collocations when teaching English to non-native speakers (source: ESL teacher for many years, BA in English).
'Request for + [noun]' is just plain wrong. I don't have my copy to hand, but if you can get your hands on 'Practical English Usage' by Michael Swan, I bet it'll be covered.
posted by Salamander at 4:28 AM on July 18, 2013
It drives me insane when someone says "request for," e.g. "I requested for a seat change."
FWIW, "request for" can be just fine, e.g. "I put in a request for a transfer." It's the "-ed" that makes it a problem.
posted by jon1270 at 4:25 AM on July 18 [+] [!]
Agreed. That's because the word 'request' in the latter sentence is a noun. You can put in a request (noun) for something. You can't request (verb) for something. You just request (verb) it.
posted by Salamander at 4:31 AM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
FWIW, "request for" can be just fine, e.g. "I put in a request for a transfer." It's the "-ed" that makes it a problem.
posted by jon1270 at 4:25 AM on July 18 [+] [!]
Agreed. That's because the word 'request' in the latter sentence is a noun. You can put in a request (noun) for something. You can't request (verb) for something. You just request (verb) it.
posted by Salamander at 4:31 AM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
I agree. I think these are the same people who say "The reason for... is because..."
posted by yclipse at 4:45 AM on July 18, 2013
posted by yclipse at 4:45 AM on July 18, 2013
There is a case where "requested for" is standard in British/American English, when it's followed by a verb phrase:
I requested for the package to be sent to me.
I requested for my iPhone to be unlocked.
No they still sound incorrect to me. Its passable but its not BBC english. I think its because the speaker is incorrectly using "for" when its should be "that".
I requested that the package be sent to me.
posted by mary8nne at 4:47 AM on July 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
I requested for the package to be sent to me.
I requested for my iPhone to be unlocked.
No they still sound incorrect to me. Its passable but its not BBC english. I think its because the speaker is incorrectly using "for" when its should be "that".
I requested that the package be sent to me.
posted by mary8nne at 4:47 AM on July 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
It is incorrect grammar, but...
... the issue here is not so much correct usage of the preposition after the verb but the nature of how English is changing. As native English speakers, one tends to bridle at the "incorrect" use of the language. To some extent, this comes down to your views on language generally - whether you are more of a prescriptivist or not. Or at least where you sit on the sliding scale of prescriptivism.
Non-native speakers of English now outnumber native speakers globally, so it's something we're all going to have to get used to because English is both the language of commerce and the lingua franca of the internet. Across places like Africa and India you see tremendous evolution of the language: from pidgin English, new slang or terminology through to the mixing of two or more languages. What you often also find in former colonies is the retention of more archaic forms of the language also due to the role of English as the language of government and the civil service.
As a historical example, at one point American English diversified quickly from British English - one of the main results of this is the use of the noun as verb. We accept readily terms like "to toast" where once they were new uses of nouns as verbs. Similarly, to many ears, the idea of "he facebooked" or "she googled" sounds alien. There are a whole plethora of examples of linguistic diversity from America - some stemming from the use of now unused (in Britain) conventions but many others from new uses of the language.
posted by MuffinMan at 4:53 AM on July 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
... the issue here is not so much correct usage of the preposition after the verb but the nature of how English is changing. As native English speakers, one tends to bridle at the "incorrect" use of the language. To some extent, this comes down to your views on language generally - whether you are more of a prescriptivist or not. Or at least where you sit on the sliding scale of prescriptivism.
Non-native speakers of English now outnumber native speakers globally, so it's something we're all going to have to get used to because English is both the language of commerce and the lingua franca of the internet. Across places like Africa and India you see tremendous evolution of the language: from pidgin English, new slang or terminology through to the mixing of two or more languages. What you often also find in former colonies is the retention of more archaic forms of the language also due to the role of English as the language of government and the civil service.
As a historical example, at one point American English diversified quickly from British English - one of the main results of this is the use of the noun as verb. We accept readily terms like "to toast" where once they were new uses of nouns as verbs. Similarly, to many ears, the idea of "he facebooked" or "she googled" sounds alien. There are a whole plethora of examples of linguistic diversity from America - some stemming from the use of now unused (in Britain) conventions but many others from new uses of the language.
posted by MuffinMan at 4:53 AM on July 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
You can also "make a request for" something. In this case "request" is a noun and "make" is the verb.
posted by Obscure Reference at 5:04 AM on July 18, 2013
posted by Obscure Reference at 5:04 AM on July 18, 2013
Wrong. A request is either "that" or "for" so it is implied and not needed.
posted by Postroad at 5:25 AM on July 18, 2013
posted by Postroad at 5:25 AM on July 18, 2013
Yes, this is both wrong and infuriating.
posted by windykites at 6:55 AM on July 18, 2013
posted by windykites at 6:55 AM on July 18, 2013
"I requested for a seat change" is incorrect. It's silly to parse whether it's incorrect in one way but correct in another way — it's not correct at all. "Request" is a transitive verb, so it isn't followed by a preposition. Look up "transitive verb" and "intransitive verb." "Request" as a noun is different.
posted by John Cohen at 7:42 AM on July 18, 2013
posted by John Cohen at 7:42 AM on July 18, 2013
Best answer: I usually fall on the descriptivist side, but "I requested for" is horrifying. I am horrified by it.
posted by dosterm at 8:56 AM on July 18, 2013
posted by dosterm at 8:56 AM on July 18, 2013
Here's why I think people do this: many companies use a Request for Proposal (RFP) as jargon for a formal solicitation for products or services. The process of a RFP sort of becomes to RFP and finally "to request for..." starts sounding plausible.
posted by 2bucksplus at 10:50 AM on July 18, 2013
posted by 2bucksplus at 10:50 AM on July 18, 2013
This discussion reminds me a bit about the (I believe) mostly British "send for," e.g., "I sent for a visa from the embassy but I haven't heard back yet."
posted by Pfardentrott at 12:43 PM on July 19, 2013
posted by Pfardentrott at 12:43 PM on July 19, 2013
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posted by catatethebird at 3:48 AM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]