ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: in or with ?

Clive — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:14:12 GMT

Hi,
Yes.
'In' just makes it sound like you were a bit more completely covered.

Clive

Re: in or with ?

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:40:25 GMT

HI Clive,
You ,entioned that both in and with are fine, and they are often interchanged.
So in your example : " eg I tripped and fell into a deep ditch. When I got out, I was covered in mud. My friends couldn't even recognize me. "

Can I still use "with" to say " I was covered WITH mud. My friends couldn't even recognize me, " when I am not sure if I should use "if" or "with" ?

Re: in or with ?

Clive — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:22:43 GMT

Hi,

eg I tripped and fell into a deep ditch. When I got out, I was covered in mud. My friends couldn't even recognize me.
The coverage was pretty complete. And it was the result of an accident. I didn't intend to cover myself in mud.

eg I could see John had cut his knee, because it was covered with a bandage. John decided to bandage his knee. And it did not cover his whole body, it ws probably quite a small bandage. 'Covered by' is another common form here.

Clive

Re: in or with ?

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:11:00 GMT

Thak you for your replay. BTW, what do you mean by "'Covered in' - Sometimes suggests more complete coverage. Sometimes suggests the coverage was less intentional, more accidental." ??

Could you give me a little more samples or explanation towards this above comments? If it is more complete coverage, how can it be both less intentioanl and more acidental? I would say if it is less intentiaonl but more accidental, it it shuold have less coverage instead of more coverage. Maybe I am wrong, I am not sure,

Re: in or with ?

Clive — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:32:50 GMT

Hi,

This question is from a toeic prep book. A photo question : A lady is working at her desk in front of her computer. There are post-it notes all over her work area-- on her computer screen, on the walls, and on her desk.

Correct description, according to the book, is "The woman's work area is covered in post-it notes."

Why not using " is covered with " instead of " is covered in" ?? Both are fine, and they are often interchanged.
But here are a few comments.
'Covered in' - Sometimes suggests more complete coverage. Sometimes suggests the coverage was less intentional, more accidental.

Isn't " covered with " is more common than" covered in" ?? That's my feeling, too.

Howver, Google offers these results.
covered in - 30.6 million hits

covered with - 23.5 million hits

Best wishes, Clive

in or with ?

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:21:57 GMT

This question is from a toeic prep book. A photo question : A lady is working at her desk in front of her computer. There are post-it notes all over her work area-- on her computer screen, on the walls, and on her desk.

Correct description, according to the book, is "The woman's work area is covered in post-it notes."

Why not using " is covered with " instead of " is covered in" ??
Isn't " covered with " is more common than" covered in" ??