Learn English – The collocations of “leave” with preposition phrases

prepositionsword-order

The 12th entry for "leave" in OAAD:

to allow somebody to take care of something

leave somebody/something + adv./prep. You can leave the cooking to me.

She left her assistant in charge.

Leave it with me — I'm sure I can sort it out.

‘Where shall we eat?’ ‘I’ll leave it entirely (up) to you (= you can decide).’

They left me with all the clearing up.

leave somebody/something to do something I was left to cope on my own.

Does "leave sth to sb" have the same connotation as "leave sth with sb"?

We can see that the collocations of "leave" with preposition phrases are highly flexible. I reword these examples as:

You can leave me with the cooking.

You can leave the cooking with me.

Leave it to me — I'm sure I can sort it out.

Leave me with it — I'm sure I can sort it out.

They left all the clearing up with/to me.

Do they sound equally natural?

Best Answer

1: Leave it to me
2: Leave it with me
3: Leave me with it (not idiomatically common/valid for OP's context)

Both the above (valid) forms can be approximately paraphrased as I'm sure I can sort it out, in that they both carry the strong implication You don't need to deal with this, because I [can and] will.

But in practice, #1 is usually used in contexts where the speaker is declaring that [perhaps only] he has the skill and/or right to deal with "it" (some problem, or decision). Context dictates whether he's warning the other person not to get involved, or reassuring them that they don't need to bother, etc. Context also dictates whether you'll be dealing with it immediately, or at some future time.

On the other hand, #2 is almost never used with that warning sense, or in contexts where you're just about to deal with the matter. It's almost exclusively used in contexts where you're telling the other person you will get around to resolving the issue, but not right now. That's to say, the problem is now "with" you - you've taken "ownership" of it, and will make sure it's resolved (in a timely manner).


Note that #3 above isn't "ungrammatical". It can be used in certain circumstances, but it doesn't really mean I take responsibility for this issue. It occurs in contexts where there was never any doubt that the speaker is responsible for dealing with whatever is under discussion - he just needs more time (leave me alone with the problem; don't distract me by asking about it again until I've sorted it out).