Am I fascinated with consumer technology or fascinated by it? What about a book, an object, or a philosophical idea?
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2 Answers
With: If the object of the fascination is something that can be held, handled, or manipulated (Rubik's cube for example), then someone can be fascinated "with" it.
I was fascinated with his car.
By: If - for example - someone is reading an interesting article, they may be fascinated "by" it.
I was fascinated by her voice.
Source: Yahoo Answers.
answered May 27, 2011 at 14:59
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What about a philosophical idea? This is a "thing", but not something you can hold. Or "consumer technology"? This is a class of things, so which does it fit in?– Ric LevyCommented May 27, 2011 at 15:12
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I'll use by with both of them. They're ideas or concepts rather than being physical things. I checked Oxford, Webster and Longman. All were using examples using "by". Commented May 27, 2011 at 15:16
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3What about Japan? Can I be both fascinated with Japan and fascinated by Japan because it's a thing and a whole bunch of ideas?– user85526Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 3:29
(i) "by" names the agent responsible for the action.
By is commonly the preposition whose object is the agent of the passive verb:
I was fascinated by her voice: This is the passive form of Her voice fascinated me.
(ii) "with" names the instrument that was used for/caused the action.
I was fascinated with his car. Here, fascinated is an adjective and "with his car" modifies fascinated.
answered Oct 14, 2022 at 15:48
