I know how to use "ask of" in many cases. But I have encountered a sentence, that for me it is wrong. But, since i am not a native English speaker I can not be sure.
Implement an application allowing parents to ask questions of school personnel.
What this sentence "means", is that, an application will be implemented that will allow parents ask questions to school personnel, for example about how to help their children with homework and such.
I didn't write it, a native English speaker did, and he said it is a nuance of English, related with "ask of".
But when I read it, I feel it means that the parents will be able to ask questions about school personnel.
I would really appreciate it if you could tell me if this is the correct usage and why.
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Best Answer
The "correct" preposition is just a matter of idiomatic usage...
We ask a question of someone we hope may answer it.
We put or pose a question to that person.
We also sometimes direct a question at someone, but that wouldn't really work in OP's context. It's far less common overall, and tends to be used in respect of a single question (or single series of questions).
It's worth pointing out that all the above variants involving prepositions are relatively uncommon compared to the simple version - normally, we just ask someone a question.