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Ezfred0131 Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

"approve" vs "approve of"

When would you "approve" something, and "approve of" something?

Thanks..
  

Top answer

" "approve of" seems to involve moral judgment. One approves of certain actions or behaviors. " Sometimes "approve of" and its opposite "disapprove of" are used incorrectly, for example, "I disapprove of spinach"!

— CalifJim

  • " "approve of" seems to involve moral judgment.
  • One approves of certain actions or behaviors.
  • " Sometimes "approve of" and its opposite "disapprove of" are used incorrectly, for example, "I disapprove of spinach"!
  • You may disapprove of eating spinach, but not of spinach itself!
  • It's a bit too inert to arouse feelings of disapproval!
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14 Answers
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"approve" seems official: "Congress approved the measure." "The financial officers approved the purchase."
"approve of" seems to involve moral judgment. One approves of certain actions or behaviors. "Paul approved of the way his brother handled the situation." "My grandmother never approved of drinking alcohol."

Sometimes "approve of" and its opposite "disapprove of" are used
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0 What the recent abundance of political ads that typically read: " My name is Hillary Clinton [Barack Obama, etc etc.} and I approve this message."02br
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00Everytime I hear it I cringe.  Shouldn't it be "I approve of this message"?0-
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0 What the recent abundance of political ads that typically read: " My name is Hillary Clinton [Barack Obama, etc etc.} and I approve this message."02br
02br
00Everytime I hear it I cringe.  Shouldn't it be "I approve of this message"?0-
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0Hi,02br
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00Here's another way to look at it.02br
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01u00The boss01b00 approved02b00 Tom's request for a leave of absence02u00. This means01i00 The boss said/signed 'OK'.02i00 You could say that this refers to an action.02br
02br
01u00The boss 01b0
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Anonymous12cite10Everytime I hear it I cringe. Shouldn't it be "I approve of this message"?12blockquote
10 No! If it were "approve of this message", 01u01b00I02b02u00 would be cringing!02br
00To approve something (or to give something your approval) is to aut
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0Hi C00live,02br
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00Thank you so much for clarifiying the difference between approve & approve of. I had recently read an article by the language maven William saffire where he mentioned that "approve of " should not be used because the US Partisan law has unequivocally prohibited it. I was wondering why, thanks for clarifying.0-
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0Hi,02br
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00A law that says you can't use such everyday words? 05000 Not likely!02br
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00On the other hand, there are some common grammar mistakes that I think people should go to jail for.05102br
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00Best wishes, Clive010id111id2
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hello sir ,

if i can't agree that- this is a cat or agree that - this is a cat. similarly if i itself disapprove that- this is a cat or approved that- this is a cat. then what is the problem?

because i have give self disapproval and disapproval.
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Hi,

No, none of this is correct.

Let's consider the word 'disapprove'. It does not mean 'disagree'. It means 'withhold permission'.

If I say 'This is not a cat', the normal response is 'I agree (that it is not a cat)'.

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HI.

SIR

CAN YOU PLEASE elaborate ME ON "APPROVE" AND "APPROVE OF". AND WHICH WORD SHOULD I TO USE FOR MY SELF DECISION,WHAT WORD SHOULD I USED INSTEAD OF "SELF APPROVAL AND DISAPPROVAL"? NOT ACCEPT BUT GIVE SELF PERMISSION OF "WHAT THING OR MATTER HAVE".

BECAUSE I AM TOO MUCH CONFUSE BETWEEN "APPROVE", "ALLOW", "PERMISSION", AND BETWEEN "PERMIT".

AND ALSO CONFU
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