attracted to or by

Question

I'm attracted to/by his charm/charms.Which is correct?Thanks.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

As far as I know it's always attract to.
CJ

New2grammar · Answer

Thanks, CJ. Are you saying attract is always followed by to? Also which is correct, charm or charmS?

Optilang · Answer

Books 1 - 10 of 8550 on "attracted to". (0.25 seconds)

Books 1 - 10 of 6980 on "attracted by". (0.08 seconds)

CalifJim · Answer

Either charm or charms is OK.
But I have to revise what I said earlier. The pattern is as follows:

attracted to X by Y.
X is the goal of the attraction, the person or object one is impelled toward.

Y is what causes or initiates the feeling of attraction.
You can leave out either the to phrase or the by phrase.
So the question is whether to want to say that the charm is what the goal of this impulse is or the factor that stimulates the impulse toward the goal.
Now that I think about it, it probably makes more sense to use by. You're leaving out the to phrase:
I'm attracted to him by his charm.
That said, I'm not sure that everyone follows the pattern so exactingly, and there are probably hundreds of examples that reverse the prepositions.
CJ

New2grammar · Answer

Thanks, CJ and Optilang.

attracted to or by

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