Approve or Approve of?

Question

What is the correct way of saying the sentence?

My teacher doesn't approve of the first example that I have listed.

My teacher doesn't approve the first example that I have listed.

Possible duplicate of "Approve (of)," "assent," "consent," and "grant" — , Jan 11 '17 at 16:11

score 5 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

5

Stretching the answer of Deadrat little further:

For Op's given examples:

My teacher doesn't approve of the first example that I have listed.

Means:

The teacher does not agree with the first example.

While

My teacher doesn't approve the first example that I have listed.

Means

The teacher doesn't accept the example.

edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

Community

1

answered Dec 12 '16 at 05:54

Karan Desai

288
2
13

But in the recent campaign, "approve" was used to mean "agree with" - "I'm Jane Doe, and I approve this message." – Mike Jones Dec 12 '16 at 15:50
1

@Mike Jones One swallow doesn't make a summer. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 01 '17 at 08:28

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 12 '16 at 05:27

3

Approve has the meaning of agreement, but with the preposition, it means agree with:

I approved of your decision.

Without the preposition, it means agree to:

The executives committee approved your budget.

answered Dec 12 '16 at 05:27

deadrat

44,678

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 11 '17 at 06:07

In case it's not clear from the previous answers, you should used approve of in this context. If you're going for more of an "acceptance" meaning, just use accept:

The examiner didn't accept the first example that I have listed as a correct one.

Approve or Approve of?

3 Answers3