"provide + O + O" or "provide + O + with + noun" ?

Koji   Tuesday, October 19, 2004, 13:57 GMT
Which sounds more natural, "He provided me with a sample." or "He provided me with a sample." Thank you very much in advance.
Koji   Tuesday, October 19, 2004, 14:23 GMT
I am sorry I made a mistake.

Which sounds more natural, "He provided me with a sample." or "He provided me a sample."? Thank you very much in advance.
D   Wednesday, October 20, 2004, 00:11 GMT
The following sound fine and are acceptable as written sentences:

He provided me with a sample
He provided a sample to me

The third option is colloquial and not suitable for written English:

He provided me a sample.
Koji   Wednesday, October 20, 2004, 11:00 GMT
Thank you very much for proving me your good instruction!
Jim   Thursday, October 21, 2004, 00:43 GMT
Yeah, unless you're writing colloquial English. People often overlook this fact: you can write colloquially just as you can speak formally. D's list is in order of formallity but you can writ informally if you like. Normally on an internet forum most of us would write informally.
Tiffany   Thursday, October 21, 2004, 00:49 GMT
"He provided a sample to me."

I would do a double take if I heard a person say it (or write it) this way.