in / under their care

Question

A common complaint of employers today is that maid abuse the children in / under their care.    Should I use 'in' or 'under'?    Many thanks.       Amazon_CLS_IM_END&gt;

Marius Hancu · Accepted Answer

Both. In is more frequent.

Terryxpress · Answer

"In someone's care" implies this may be a temporary situation, or that the person is "keeping an eye on things". "Under someone's care" implies that the person has an ongoing responsibility for their welfare.
A "maid" is someone who cleans and tidies a house, and in your example, suggests they are also asked to keep an eye on the children. A governess is someone specifically employed to tend to the children, and so the children would be "under her care."

Marius Hancu · Answer

Good points, Terryxpress.

Yoong Liat · Answer

Terryxpress"In someone's care" implies this may be a temporary situation, or that the person is "keeping an eye on things". "Under someone's care" implies that the person has an ongoing responsibility for their welfare. A "maid" is someone who cleans and tidies a house, and in your example, suggests they are also asked to keep an eye on the children. A governess is someone specifically employed to tend to the children, and so the children would be "under her care."

Hi Terry

Could you tell me where you get the above information from? I've gone through my dictionariies and none has given such detailed information. I would be grateful if you could let me know which source provides such a clear distinction between the two terms.

Regards

Goodman · Answer

Yoong Liat
Terryxpress"In someone's care" implies this may be a temporary situation, or that the person is "keeping an eye on things". "Under someone's care" implies that the person has an ongoing responsibility for their welfare. A "maid" is someone who cleans and tidies a house, and in your example, suggests they are also asked to keep an eye on the children. A governess is someone specifically employed to tend to the children, and so the children would be "under her care."
Hi Terry

Could you tell me where you get the above information from? I've gone through my dictionariies and none has given such detailed information. I would be grateful if you could let me know which source provides such a clear distinction between the two terms.

Regards

Liat,

I know it's not my business. But as I said it in the past not all the answers are in the books. If you are looking for help from the forum and someone is gracious enough to respond to your question, it's rather disrespectful for you to question the validity and source of the answer. Terry is right on, 100% and you can take that to the bank!

Yoong Liat · Answer

Goodman
Yoong Liat
Terryxpress"In someone's care" implies this may be a temporary situation, or that the person is "keeping an eye on things". "Under someone's care" implies that the person has an ongoing responsibility for their welfare. A "maid" is someone who cleans and tidies a house, and in your example, suggests they are also asked to keep an eye on the children. A governess is someone specifically employed to tend to the children, and so the children would be "under her care."
Hi Terry

Could you tell me where you get the above information from? I've gone through my dictionariies and none has given such detailed information. I would be grateful if you could let me know which source provides such a clear distinction between the two terms.

Regards
Liat,

I know it's not my business. But as I said it in the past not all the answers are in the books. If you are looking for help from the forum and someone is gracious enough to respond to your question, it's rather disrespectful for you to question the validity and source of the answer. Terry is right on, 100% and you can take that to the bank!

Now you're picking on me. I don't know what your intention is. We, as members, are here to learn from one another and to find out what the correct or accepted usage should be, not to criticise another member. I think it is not the correct practice. The other member can talk for himself/herself. S/he doesn't need a spokesman.

Therefore, I'm looking forward to Terry's response and I believe I can learn something from him.

When I say something, I like to quote from a source, like dictionaries and authoritative websites. This is because I'm a non-native speaker of English. And you, Goodman, too are a non-native speaker of English and, as you said earlier, anybody can quote from dictionaries and authoritative sites and I would advise you to do so if you think it's so easy.

If a member is a native speaker of English, it's okay for him/her to write without quoting any source. However, native speaker members very often quote from authoritative sources to prove their point.

Recently you quoted from Englishforum.club and you argued to the very end that it was a subjunctive and you backed what you asserted with the said source. You said that I was wrong but, in the end, it turned out that I wasn't wrong. But now you say " ... as I said it in the past not all the answers are in the books." Aren't you contradicting yourself.again?

I'm not sure whether Terry is a native speaker of English, but I would like him to share with us (Forum members) where he got the defiintion from. By the way, Terry has not quoted from any source. So it is illogical of you to say that I'm questioning the source of his answer. (Terry is right on, 100% and you can take that to the bank! On what basis, Goodman, do you conclude that. By that I don't mean Terry is not correct. Instead, I'm saying that you're asserting without producing any authoritative source. You just talked as though you were a native speaker.)

I think it's not your business to be involved unless you've found Terry's definition in a certain dictionary or site.

Whenever I post my answers, I expect them to be challenged every now and then. However, I cannot tell the other member I'm gracious enough to respond to his/her question, so it's rather disrespectful of him/her to question my answer. I'll try my best to answer him/her again, backed by dictionaries and authoritative sites whenever possible. If I'm unable to, I hope that another member can provide the answer.

in / under their care

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