有一读者问这样一句话：
(1)The boy told him his story and also that of the girl upstairs, who was his sister, and of the terrible wrongs that had been done them by the two noblemen.
这个句子中的 that had been done 之后为什么没有 to?
不少语法书认为这里的 done 之后省去了介词 to。但也有的语法家认为 done 之后没有 to 是英国英语，有 to 则为英美两国所共用。我们倾向于后一种说法。具体到引文中的 that had been done them, 则令人觉得有一种正式而古旧的风味。这种不用 to 的用法常出现在被动结构中，再如：
(2)The reception accorded the book since it first appeared in 1925 has been very gratifying. （accorded 之后无 to）
(3)A severe blow was dealt scalpers of train tickets in Beijing this week, when 52 persons were arrested in the capital's four offices selling train tickets. （dealt 之后无 to）
(4)There were only a few days left him of his vacation. （left 之后无 to）
(5)Serious attention was paid the matter by Witnerf and by Smoel, his red-headed henchman. （paid 之后无 to）
(6)Since prosodic devices are acquired naturally by native speakers, they do not have to be taught them formally. （taught 之后无 to）
(7)She felt utterly crushed by the terrible thing which had been told her. （told 之后无 to）
这种不用 to 的现象也常出现在主动结构中，如：
(8)He was the sort of man who knew his business better than you or I could have told it him! （it 后无 to）
请注意英国口语中下面一些不用 to 的用法：
(9)Give it me. （it 后无 to）
(10)Show it me. （it 后无 to）
最后还须指出，在上述不用 to 的结构中，的确皆可代之以具有 to 的结构，但请注意也有不可代之以具有 to 的结构的情况，如：
(11)The fault was forgiven him by me. （这里的 him 之前不可用 to）
