“Substitute” – Who Take Whose Place?

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(1) Margarine can substitute for butter in this recipe.

(2) Butter can be substituted with margarine in this recipe.

(3) Margarine can be substituted for butter in this recipe.

Can all these sentences be read as “margarine can take the place of butter in this recipe.”?

Instead of active/passive voice, is the preposition the mainest factor to determine the direction of relationship? Are there many verbs like “substitute” in this regard?

Thank you.
1 2 3
Comments  
>the mainest factor
the main factor, the most important factor

1-3 seem OK to me.
If the main factor were the preposition, how would we understand "margarine can substitute butter in this recipe"?
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Hi,

Butter can be substituted with margarine in this recipe

'With' is substandard.

Consider Google:

substitute with = 509,000 hits

substitute for = 77,800,000 hits

Best wishes, Clive
<'With' is substandard.>

Can you point me to a source that officially states that sub-standardness?
the main factor, the most important factor

Thank youEmotion: smile




If the main factor were the preposition, how would we understand "margarine can substitute butter in this recipe"?

I just don't know how to understand.

'With' is substandard.

Can you point me to a source that officially states that sub-standardness?

(2) & (3) are both example sentences in Oxford Advance Learner's Dict. I misread one of them at first glance, so I'm wondering whether there're other verbs like substitute.
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Conceptually similar verbs and idioms

substitute, replace, exchange
put in place of, take the place of, stand in for, fill in for
supplant, displace, supersede

CJ
Verbs that show the same grammatical pattern (with non-benefactive for) in the active voice:

exchange, swap, trade

I [exchanged / swapped / traded] [my knife for a flashlight / the cufflinks for a tie].

In the passive these retain the for.

The knife was [exchanged / swapped / traded] for a flashlight.
The cufflinks were [exchanged / swapped / traded] for a tie.

CJ
It appears to me that the typical usage is as follows:

When X is substituted for Y, Y is the real, normal, or desired thing, and X is the less real, less normal, or less desired thing.
When X is substituted with Y, X is the real, normal, or desired thing, and Y is the less real, less normal, or less desired thing.

A fake copy was substituted for the real necklace.
The real jewels were substituted with fake copies.

Of the two, be substituted with is less used. I personally prefer to change the verb to replace in the second case, though I have no feel for whether that would be considered standard or sub-standard.

The real jewels were replaced with fake copies.

CJ
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