For example, what to choose here?
"To compete for the control of/over a corporation"
or
"To compete for the power over a corporation"
UPDATE
If two workers compete for absolute control/power, what idiom should I use?
explanationexpression-choiceidiomsmeaningmeaning-in-context
For example, what to choose here?
"To compete for the control of/over a corporation"
or
"To compete for the power over a corporation"
UPDATE
If two workers compete for absolute control/power, what idiom should I use?
Best Answer
This reads well when it's a person within the company competing in a legal context. Where the competition is about having legal standing to lead the company.
This reads well when it's corporations competing to control another corporation. This would put one corporation over another.
This reads well when it's political. The power may not be in a legally recognized form. It may be blackmail. It may just be popularity and office politics.
The differences here are very slight. You could swap these around and many wouldn't care. These are simply the impressions they give.
Between "over" and "of" the literal meanings are identical. Over tends to be used more for people rather than things. When someone controls us we think of them as over us. This line is blurred when we anthropomorphize.
Over can have a slightly more pejorative implication than of. Over tends to be used when the control is sinister in some way. Although over doesn't have to be pejorative.
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