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This is the sentence I wrote:

It is as simple as adding or removing an item to/from the list.

Now I'm wondering if I should use "to" or "from" or "to/from" in:

  1. Written English,
  2. Spoken English.
Kate Gregory
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Paul
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  • Your issue isn't that there are multiple verbs. "It is as simple as opening, reading, and closing the book" has no issues. Your issue is you want to use verb phrases - "adding to", "removing from" and that's why I changed your title – Kate Gregory Jun 27 '13 at 12:44
  • @KateGregory Sure! I didn't know how to name this word that follows the verb and now I know that it's "preposition". I wanted to use it in the title too :) Thanks! – Paul Jun 27 '13 at 12:52
  • @AndrewLeach Hmmm, they suggest rewriting sentence but what if I don't want to rewrite it? What preposition should be used? Is it acceptable sentence anyway or it is wrong without possibility to fix it and should be rewritten? – Paul Jun 27 '13 at 13:26
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    They suggest using the relevant preposition with each verb, which is actually what is also suggested in a now-deleted answer here to your question: "It is as simple as adding to or removing from the list." Spoken English tends to be a little bit more lax and you could probably get away with saying "It is as simple as adding or removing from the list." – Andrew Leach Jun 27 '13 at 13:59
  • Andrew Leach et al.: Sorry but that dupe does not answer this question. Try. – Kris Jun 28 '13 at 07:00
  • @AndrewLeach Agree, duplicate doesn't answer this question at all. It just suggests a workaround and there is no objective answer but some unreliable suggestions. – Paul Jun 28 '13 at 12:34
  • In that case, you need to edit your question to make clear why it doesn't answer it. – Andrew Leach Jun 28 '13 at 12:36
  • @AndrewLeach What? My question is a clear and simple question and it doesn't need any edit. It needs reliable answer and not "I may be wrong but I think it's this way" answers like in the question you linked to... It doesn't answer it and it isn't even close to answer it so why did you close it? – Paul Jun 28 '13 at 12:38
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    This is not a duplicate. The question linked to uses only one noun phrase after the verb. This question uses two, and there are syntactic problems. I think we are way too fast with "duplicate". – John Lawler Jun 29 '13 at 02:43

2 Answers2

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Paul, English is not my native language, but I'm an English teacher (English as a foreign language).

I think you should write:

It is as simple as adding or removing an item from the list.

I can't really explain why, but that's what I think.

rajah9
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Bojana
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  • Welcome to EL&U. I like your proposed sentence. I wonder if you might improve your answer by citing a reference? – rajah9 Jun 27 '13 at 14:14
  • rajah9 The particle (preposition) is not really part of the verb, but an essential link between the verb and its stated or implied object.So I believe it can be omitted in this particular sentence. I'm sorry I can't give a reference, this is just an opinion, which doesn't need to be correct. – Bojana Jun 27 '13 at 15:02
  • Alright! I think I understand how it works now. If anybody has a reliable resource to attach to this answer, that would be great! Now I'm only concerned about how much formal is it to omit one preposition and leave only from. Is it something that a native English speaker would notice if I wrote it without to? Is it formal enough that I could place in an article or a book? – Paul Jun 27 '13 at 17:10
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The particle (preposition) is not really part of the verb, but an essential link between the verb and its stated or implied object.So I believe it can be omitted in this particular sentence. I'm sorry I can't give a reference, this is just an opinion, which doesn't need to be correct.

Bojana
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