Learn English – The preposition of categorize – in/into/in to”

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The definition of "categorize" in merriam-webster:

:to put into a category

After the definition let's take a look at some examples (in merriam-webster):

This software lets you categorize your photographs in many different ways.

Their opinions can be categorized as conservative.

Birds are categorized by type in this field guide

I tried to make my own sentence, but I'm confused which prepositions I should use?:

we can categorize them into/in/in to two main categories.

I wondering is there any kind of dictionary that can help us finding proper prepositions?

Best Answer

The way these prepositions are used in these examples has nothing to do with the fact that "categorize" occurs in the sentence.

  • 1: "in" is part of the adverbial phrase "in many different ways". This could be apt for a multitude of main verbs. "He painted in many different ways." "they walked in many different ways". There's nothing special here with regard to using "in" with "categorize", even though they are collocated.

  • 2: this is a shorter adverbial phrase "as conservative". If I inderstand the terminology, "as" links a stative verb with its predicate adjective. This usage fits a narrower range of main verbs, such as "viewed", "seen", "tagged", "understood". (See http://www.google.com/search?q=define+as&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en , meaning 1 for prepositional use of "as")

  • 3: "in this field guide" is, as in #1, an adverbial phrase that could be applied to many verbs. "There are many pictures in this field guide." "John Muir was quoted in this field guide." As in #1, there's nothing instructive here with regard to using "in" with "categorize", but in this example they are not collocated; "in" is NOT being used WITH "categorized".

But what you should have noticed, and bolded, in this example, is by—this is the preposition associated with "categorized". In this example, "by" is used in the third bulleted meaning under the #3 sense for the Preposition ("parameter") HERE http://www.google.com/search?q=define+as&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&#hl=en&q=define+by

A few verbs that collocate with "by" in this sense (I'm sure there must be more):

  • sort by ...

  • classify by ...

  • organize by...

  • assign to [x] by...

  • group by...

  • alphabetize by {name/state/city/etc}

In such cases "by" can be understood as rougly equivalent to "according to".

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