Learn English – “Inherent in” vs “inherent to.”

phrase-choiceprepositions

I thought the phrase was "inherent in," but then I found out that inherent to is also used.

Do they mean the same thing? Or do they have slightly different meanings?

Example sentence:

They shared that comfortable silence inherent in/to couples who no longer need to impress each other.

Best Answer

The preposition to can express a possessive relationship.

Where is the key to this lock?

The key that belongs to or belongs with this lock.

In your sentence, to works well because "couples" are entities, as a lock is an entity. The silence is "theirs" to share. It is not an intrinsic characteristic of them.

We use inherent in when referring to intrinsic characteristics of situations more abstract than "couples":

There is risk inherent in any investment.

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