Impressed BY or WITH? Which is the correct preposition?

Vocabulary / By

You can use either “impressed by” or “impressed with” in English. There are certain situations where you might choose “by” or “with” but it is usually a personal preference.

You should use “with” when you use the active voice.We also tend to use “with” with “things” and “by” with people but in most cases they are interchangeable.

Examples:

I am impressed with your level of Spanish.

I have to say I was impressed by him. He is marvelous. 

Impressed By

“By” is a perfectly acceptable preposition to use with “impressed”.

I am impressed by your ability to juggle. 

She was impressed by him. You could tell.

The only time you shouldn’t use “by“ with “impressed” is when the sentence is in the active voice. 

She impressed me by her voice.

She impressed me with her voice.

Read more about the passive and active voice here. 

Impressed With

We can use “with” with “impressed” in most situations including both the active and passive voice. We tend to use the passive voice with “impressed” but the active voice can also be used. 

I am impressed with your singing ability

He impressed me with his no-nonsense talk. 

Impressed About

We use the preposition “about” with verbs and adjectives when we want to introduce a topic. It is much more common to use “impressed with”.

Impressed Someone

When we use “impressed” with the word “someone”, we tend to use “impressed by someone” and “impressed someone with”.

Examples:

I am very impressed by someone who can look after themselves.

I want to impress that special someone with my guitar playing skills.  

Conor
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