"I would like to ask you a favour" vs. "I would like to ask you for a favour"
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Music by Eric Matyas
https://www.soundimage.org
Track title: Puzzle Island
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Chapters
00:00 &Quot;I Would Like To Ask You A Favour&Quot; Vs. &Quot;I Would Like To Ask You For A Favour&Quot;
00:17 Answer 1 Score 2
00:29 Accepted Answer Score 14
00:58 Answer 3 Score 5
01:08 Answer 4 Score 0
01:33 Thank you
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Full question
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Tags
#wordchoice #grammaticality #prepositions #writingstyle
#avk47
ACCEPTED ANSWER
Score 14
According to this Google NGram, all of the following forms are in use:
- ask you a favo(u)r
- ask you for a favo(u)r
As you can see, the forms without the preposition for are more common (with "ask you a favor" generating the highest results). In common use, one may conclude that this is the preferred form.
ANSWER 2
Score 5
BBC Learning English uses just the former expression for asking a favour.
ANSWER 3
Score 2
I would say the former is preferred/more common in colloquial/spoken English. The latter is not incorrect but used less often.
ANSWER 4
Score 0
Compare it with "Asking a lunch" and "Asking for a lunch" Here, "lunch" is not the actual thing which is being asked; and that's why it should be "Asking for a lunch"
But in case of favour, it's the "favour" which is directly being asked.
Similarly, you can also compare 1. Asking a date 2. Asking for a date
So the correct usage is: "I would like to ask you a favour"