atw: Re: Correct usage conundrum: "Match to" vs "Match with"

  • From: "Neil Maloney" <maloneyn@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:08:13 +1100

I've always used "matched with" when there is a range of possible matches, e.g. 
matched my green shirt with my grey trousers, but "matched to" when there is 
one only match or when the closest possible match is required, e.g. matched the 
DNA found at the scene of the crime to the defendant's record in the police DNA 
database. From the use of the indefinite article in the screen ("an offer") I 
would continue to use "match with". If there was a single offer only ("the 
offer") I would use "match to".

Neil.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Anthony D'Silva 
  To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 1:33 PM
  Subject: atw: Correct usage conundrum: "Match to" vs "Match with"


  Hi All,

  Recently, I came across a UI screen which looked like this:


              Notifications

              Receive e-mail notifications when your bid is:

              <checkbox1> Accepted

              <checkbox2> Rejected

              <checkbox3> Matched with an offer

              <checkbox4> Not matched with an offer



  I wasn't sure if it would be better to use “matched to” instead of “matched 
with” in  <checkbox3>  and <checkbox4>. I tried googling for answers and found 
that both “matched to” and “matched with” are widely used (and in some cases it 
was just “matched”, as in “you will receive notification when your bid matches 
an offer”). The fact that I am not a native speaker of English makes it all the 
more difficult to determine the correct usage. 

  Any thoughts on the correct usage?


  Thanks in advance,



  Regards, 

  Anthony 

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