Substituted them with.....
The following example is taken from the Cambridge Dictionary.
I took out the words 'he' and 'his' and substituted them with 'they' and 'their'.
My question is this:
Why is it ".....substituted them with....." and not ".....replaced them with....."?
Thank you.
Top answer
This is a disputed (in my view incorrect) use of "substitute". The object of "substitute" should be the new thing, not the old. I can just about accept a football player being "substituted", meaning replaced, but "substitute X with Y" meaning that Y replaces X is horribly confusing.
- This is a disputed (in my view incorrect) use of "substitute".
- The object of "substitute" should be the new thing, not the old.
- I can just about accept a football player being "substituted", meaning replaced, but "substitute X with Y" meaning that Y replaces X is horribly confusing.
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This is a disputed (in my view incorrect) use of "substitute". The object of "substitute" should be the new thing, not the old. I can just about accept a football player being "substituted", meaning replaced, but "substitute X with Y" meaning that Y replaces X is horribly confusing.
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