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Old Man Gordon Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Covered with/by

0A student's sentence: In Japan, we have typhoons. During typhoons, many roads are covered by water. 02br
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00Is there any reason to change the preposition to with?0-
  

Top answer

0 Hi Old Man02br 02br 00Since the water has no active role, 01i 00with02i 00 is the correct preposition. 01i 00In02i 00is also commonly used but some don't like it. ) 05002br 02br 00Cheers02br 00CB010id1

— Cool Breeze

  • 0 Hi Old Man02br 02br 00Since the water has no active role, 01i 00with02i 00 is the correct preposition.
  • 01i 00In02i 00is also commonly used but some don't like it.
  • ) 05002br 02br 00Cheers02br 00CB010id1
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7 Answers
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0 Hi Old Man02br
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00Since the water has no active role, 01i00with02i00 is the correct preposition. 01i00In02i00is also commonly used but some don't like it. (I do!) 05002br
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00Cheers02br
00CB010id1
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0Hi,02br
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00A minor suggestion.02br
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00Unnecessary repetition is a sign of very simple writing. 00Depending on the English level of the writer, you might suggest 02br
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01font00In Japan, we have typhoons. During 01b00these02b00, many roads are covered with water. 02font
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0Hi Old man, 02br
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00(hope I don't sound mean05000 to you)02br
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00>>>During 01b00these02b00, many roads are covered with water<<<02br
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00I00 personally think that “covered by water” is understandable but not quite natural.00 00Other possibi
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0Thanks, Goodman. 02br
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00No meanness detected here.02br
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00I agree that there's an unnatural ring to the sentence, and I would use a completely different construction. 02br
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00I think that the implication of 01i00by02i00 and 01i00with02i00 is different. Covered with is used w
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0CB-02br
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00I'm not sure I can agree with you about the water not having an active role. The indicative statement could be "Water covers the roads." It's certainly the subject there, and it is actively covering the roads. Would you accept 01i00by02i00 in this sentence: "The hole in the wall is covered by a picture."?02br
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0 Hi OMG02br
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00I am so broad-minded that I accept quite a lot! 05000 However, I would prefer to say01i00The hole in the wall is covered with a picture02i00 since the reference is to the present 01b00state02b00, not to the 01b00act02b00 of covering. This is the idea I get from the use of 01i
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0That's why I felt "the roads were covered by water" had a funny ring to it. I can agree if "water" was replaced "by "snow". I couldn't tell you why that is ; perhaps water rises from the ground up and anything that has the meaning of covering projects an image of laying over something else. Whether water has an active role or not, it really depends on the side of the fence you stand on. Sure, t
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