"I appreciate Mr. Old Client referring YOU to ME."
...OR...
"I appreciate Mr. Old Client referring ME to YOU."
?? Both sound correct! I'm a stickler for grammar, etc., and want to be correct. It's a sentence I use often, and I've done it both ways not knowing what is correct! ahhh!!! :) Which noun is the object of the verb, is it that simple? I'm just not sure!
Any English teachers out there?....
Answers:
Definition of refer:
to send or direct for treatment, aid, information
Mr. Old Client referred (directed for information) his friend to you. He did nothing to you; you were not referred.
The first sentence is the correct one to convey what you mean.
Appreciate is certainly the word to use - thank never enters the picture here. However, to be grammatically correct, the sentence should read:
" I appreciate Mr. Old Client's referring you to me."
If a gerund (participle used as a noun), such as 'referring', is preceded by a noun, that noun should be possessive case. This point is often abused today, but is still the correct way. Citation from GPO Style Manual:
8.18. A noun preceding a gerund should be in the possessive
case.
in the event of Mary's leaving
the ship's hovering nearby
BTW, avoid like the plague any advice from a purported English teacher who does not understand transitive verbs, who uses "bare" in place of "bear", and who cannot spell "client."