Comments on: Pitfalls: “Married TO,” Not “Married WITH”

By: Eli

Eli — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 15:05:09 +0000

Thank you so much! Now I believe that the child in question is too old for such a mistake. I really appreciate your help :)

By: Clarissa

Clarissa — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 02:54:49 +0000

I’m really sorry for the delay. It’s possible if “with” is more common than “to” in English, but I think “to” is more common, so I don’t actually think it’s likely. Hmm. Interesting question! Well, you know, on second thought, it might be possible — most other “activity” words use “with” in English, so if the kid is very young and knows other words like “play ball with” and “eat lunch with,” and thinks of marriage as a very simple activity like that, I do think it’s possible! Only for a very small child, though. I’m sorry that my answer is probably useless at this point.

By: Eli

Eli — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 14:19:06 +0000

Thank you for this post. I’m wondering if you know an answer to a related question, if it’s not too late to ask three years after your original posting.
I’ve been trying to figure out if an English speaking child would be likely to make such a mistake, i.e. to say “married with”. What is your opinion about it? (I’m trying to find an English equivalent for a translation where in the original a child makes a grammar mistake when speaking about marriage in Russian). Thanks, Eli.

By: Clarissa

Clarissa — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 02:34:52 +0000

Sure. This is a different case because it involves the noun, “marriage,” not the verb, “marry.” However, the preposition “to” is still used more frequently than the conjunction “and” as far as I know. There might be some regional preference for one over the other.

By: Maggie

Maggie — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:39:48 +0000

What about:
…the marriage of their daughter Susy “to” Billy Smith…
as opposed to

…the marriage of their daughter Susy “and” Billy Smith …
in wedding invitations

Any comments?

By: southofreality

southofreality — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:44:26 +0000

Nice blog. I’ve put up a link to it on my blog under ‘TEFL Resources.’ I’ll be using it as a teaching resource from now on.

Cheers!

By: Clarissa

Clarissa — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 05:36:31 +0000

I’m trying to make up for lost time! ;)

It really clicked with me when, in one of the grammar books we used at CSUEB, I read that “Prepositions in English are largely idiomatic.” It’s totally true.

Thanks for passing the link along! I’ve gotten a lot of hits from China and it makes my day to see the numbers go up.

By: Allison

Allison — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 05:08:53 +0000

You’ve been busy! This is a great tip! I’m totally giving my students your website next semester. This is one of those particular lessons that’s hard to explain since saying “with” really would make more sense. Ah the complexities of the English language!