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Is this valid?

Treat others with the same respect you’d want them to treat you.

I'd normally phrase this as:

Treat others with the same respect you'd want them to treat you with.

Or, alternately:

Treat others with the same respect with which you'd want them to treat you.

Is the abbreviated version correct?

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3 Answers 3

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Dropping the second "with" leaves me feeling that the sentence is incomplete; the structure of the sentence does not imply the preposition, and the verb "treat" can be used with other prepositions.

While I expect that your slightly-foreshortened version would be readily understood, I don't think it's good form.

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I'm for the last alternative, even though it doesn't roll off the tongue. I would also consider a reword like

If you want others to treat you with respect, treat them with the same respect.

or the more famous shorter version of the original,

Treat others as you would have them treat you.

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  • Would that not be Treat others as you would like others to treat you if one paraphrases the Golden Rule
    – mplungjan
    Mar 27, 2011 at 13:31
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I can’t “treat you respect.” I can treat you with respect, treat you respectfully, or show you respect.

(mplungian, it is not a coincidence that this awful sentence appears [hopefully fixed, by now] in the FAQ. I was unable to convince Jeff Atwood that it was wrong.)

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