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Debpriya De Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

With on

1. He was rough with her.

2. He was hard on her.
3. He was tough on her.
4. He was rude with her.
Above are a few examples of adjectives followed by prepositions "with" and "on".
My question is, can we use "with" and "on" interchangeably in the above sentences and other such examples or is there a rule as to which adjective should be used with which preposition ?
  

Top answer

] It seems that each adjective in that position has one preposition that goes with it (sometimes two), and that there is no obvious pattern, though there are some groups of similar adjectives that take the same preposition. CJ

— CalifJim

  • ] It seems that each adjective in that position has one preposition that goes with it (sometimes two), and that there is no obvious pattern, though there are some groups of similar adjectives that take the same preposition.
  • CJ
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1 Answers
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[rough / hard / tough / easy / harsh / soft] on [her / him / ...]

[rough / rude / angry / curt / short / frustrated / gentle / polite / harsh / lenient / strict] with [her / him / ...]

[nice / polite / thankful / helpful / kind] to [her / him / ...]

It seems that each adjective in that position has one preposition that goes with it (sometimes two), and that there is no
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