What is the difference between the two sentences given below?
You cannot have it both ways.
You cannot have it in both ways.
prepositions
What is the difference between the two sentences given below?
You cannot have it both ways.
You cannot have it in both ways.
Best Answer
The phrase both ways refers to a pair of options or choices. The statement You cannot have it both ways normally is used to say that these options are mutually exclusive: you can have the one or the other but not both.
The pronoun it there refers vaguely to an existential condition.
The phrase in both ways is similar, but with the addition of the preposition in, it refers to a pair of choices respecting the manner of something.
The pronoun it there refers to ice-cream, and both ways refers to the manner of serving it, in a dish or on a cone.