atw: Re: Correct usage conundrum: "Match to" vs "Match with"
- From: Ken Randall <kenneth_james_randall@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:05:55 -0800 (PST)
The preposition "to" is an all-purpose one which is used when
the speaker is unsure what the correct preposition is. A similar
example is "compared with" vs "compared to". "With" is not
the only preposition where "to" is an alternative, indicating that it
is used in an all-purpose way.
The fact that "to" is used indiscriminately suggests that "with" is
correct. The use of "to" in this way is fairly recent, and English
texts from the past use only "with" (and other prepositions "to"
substitutes for today).
In the media you often either see or hear "to" when you expect
another preposition.
--- On Fri, 29/1/10, Neil Maloney <maloneyn@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: Neil Maloney <maloneyn@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: atw: Re: Correct usage conundrum: "Match to" vs "Match with"
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Received: Friday, 29 January, 2010, 2:08 PM
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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