"Throw you with a stone" vs "Throw a stone at you"

In South African English a common mistake is to say: "I will throw you with a stone" where the correct phrase is: "I will throw a stone at you". Why is the first sentence wrong when one can say: "I will cut you with a knife"? Both are "I will" -action- "you with" -object-.

Possible reason: the object is distanced from you in the first case and "with" indicates grouping. Once you have thrown a stone it is separate from you but the knife stays in your hand ("with" you).

See Google Ngram for usage of the phrases.

The difference is in the meaning implied by with.

With:

1.Accompanied by (another person or thing)

Ex: a nice steak with a bottle of red wine

2.Indicating the instrument used to perform an action:

Ex: cut the fish with a knife

When you say, I will throw you with a stone, the implication is throwing someone along with a stone(refer the first definition). On the other hand, when you say, I will cut you with a knife you mean that you will cut the person using the weapon of your choice, which in this case, is a knife(second definition).

The I will...you with was a good observation, though.

This is the story for standard British and American Englishes:

The Direct Objects of different verbs represent different entities in relation to the story told by the verb. The Direct Object of the verb CUT often indicates the thing being incised. Here is a picture of someone "cutting a cake":

The Direct Object of the verb throw usually represents the thing travelling through the air. Here is a picture of someone "throwing a cake":

Notice that the Direct Object of throw doesn't represent the person getting a cake when there is only one Object of the verb. Here is a picture of someone "throwing a person":

This is the prime reason why I'm going to throw you does not achieve the meaning required for most speakers of British and American Englishes. The story may be different for speakers of other types of English.

Grammar note:

Of course when used with two objects, the Indirect Object represents the recipient of the missile, and the Direct Object is the missile itself. However, with this usage, the idea conveyed is usually that the person receiving the missile co-operates in receiving it:

• He threw [me] [the keys].

_{Picture references}

_{1. Wikihow. 2. Pandamari at Cabin Pressure Fans. 3. Mansitioning.com.}