|
|
 Thu May 22, 2008 0:50 am Experience of vs Experience in |
|
|
I would agree that "experience in" is widely used in relation to fields of activity. I would take it as a subset of "experience of", which has a broader application. Thus:
1. He is experienced in the art of straw hat making.
2. He is experienced in designing custom systems and solutions for high-tech applications.
| Quote: | experience of - indirect experience
experience in - direct experience
|
The distinction between "direct" and "indirect" experience is not accurate; all these are fine:
3. Do you have any experience of working in sales / for an undertaker? (direct)
4. I have extensive experience of conducting interviews. (direct)
5. The experience of running a small business has not been pleasant. (direct)
All the best,
MrP
______
Edited to clarify. |
|
MrPedantic
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 1193
Location: Southern England
|
|
| Thu May 22, 2008 10:11 am Experience of vs Experience in |
|
|
Hi,
To me this discussion about 'in' or 'of' after 'experience' doesn't really take account of what the word means. It can refer to extensive/deep knowledge concerning something or it can mean simply the effect an event or activity has on someone. That's why I would query the use of 'of' in two of the following:
| Quote: | 3. Do you have any experience of working in sales / for an undertaker? (direct)
4. I have extensive experience of conducting interviews. (direct)
5. The experience of running a small business has not been pleasant. (direct) |
In (3) I would use 'in' - (4) I would use 'in' and in (5) I would keep 'of'.
Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Don't bank on it |
|
Alan
Co-founder
Joined: 27 Sep 2003
Posts: 7366
Location: UK
|
 |
| Thu May 22, 2008 10:56 am Experience of vs Experience in |
|
|
| MrPedantic wrote: | The distinction between "direct" and "indirect" experience is not accurate; all these are fine:
3. Do you have any experience of working in sales / for an undertaker? (direct)
4. I have extensive experience of conducting interviews. (direct)
5. The experience of running a small business has not been pleasant. (direct) |
I'd agree with Alan. I'd also say that "experience" in #5 has a different meaning from the one used #3 and #4. See above.
For me:
he has experience of hard work/working hard = (ambiguous or unclear) he knows what hard work is, but it doesn't follow that he has experienced hard work first-hand or will have the ability to do hard work
he has experience in hard work/working hard = he's done hard work and probably has the ability to do work hard again
But then, as with Alan, Mr P, etc. I may be wrong on this.
(Strange how most of the other, regular, native-speaking commentators are giving this thread a miss.  ) |
|
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 3705
|
|
| Thu May 22, 2008 11:21 am Experience of vs Experience in |
|
|
What's the native-speaker response to these?
I have knowledege in many software systems including AutoCad, Sketchup, Adobe Photoshop CS3, Adobe Indesign, etc.
I have knowledege of many software systems including AutoCad, Sketchup, Adobe Photoshop CS3, Adobe Indesign
For me, the latter is ambiguous in meaning. |
|
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 3705
|
|
| Thu May 22, 2008 11:59 am Experience of vs Experience in |
|
|
| Molly wrote: | For me:
he has experience of hard work/working hard = (ambiguous or unclear) he's knows what hard work is, but it doesn't follow that he has experienced hard work first-hand or will have the ability to do hard work |
Neither 'he has experience of hard work' nor 'he has experience of working hard' sounds like a particularly likely or natural sentence to me.
| Molly wrote: | | he has experience in hard work/working hard = he's done hard work and probably has the ability to do work hard again |
Neither 'he has experience in hard work' nor 'he has experience in working hard' sounds like a particularly likely or natural sentence to me.
.
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English |
|
Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 7787
Location: USA
|
|
| Thu May 22, 2008 13:00 pm Experience of vs Experience in |
|
|
| Quote: | Neither 'he has experience of hard work' nor 'he has experience of working hard' sounds like a particularly likely or natural sentence to me.
Neither he has experience in hard work/working hard = he's done hard work and probably has the ability to do work hard again |
Maybe not, but I'm using them for only study purposes here. Hope that's OK with you.
BTW, what's/are your thoughts on the main topic? Did you post them already?
What do you think of these?
| Quote: | After all, he was now armed with the experience of hard work. His recent unsuccessful experience in Canada was no basis for predicting his future. ...
books.google.es/books?isbn=0814731716... |
There are more. |
|
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 3705
|
|
| Thu May 22, 2008 15:31 pm Experience of vs Experience in |
|
|
How about?
He's an expert of French.
He's an expert in French. |
|
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 3705
|
|
| Thu May 22, 2008 23:49 pm Experience of vs Experience in |
|
|
Out of interest, I looked in the BNC – which, rather surprisingly, has not been mentioned so far – and found 65 examples of "experience of working" against 9 for "experience in working"; 27 for "experience of working with" against 5 for "experience in working with".
I would regard "have experience in" as a subset of "have experience of": the latter tends to relate to direct experience, but the former, direct or indirect experience.
MrP |
|
MrPedantic
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 1193
Location: Southern England
|
|
| Fri May 23, 2008 0:05 am Experience of vs Experience in |
|
|
Hi,
I still maintain you have to have in your mind a clear picture of what meaning you attach to the word 'experience' before you start dancing on a pinhead with which is the 'correct' preposition to follow.
Alan
_________________
English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story A spring in your step |
|
Alan
Co-founder
Joined: 27 Sep 2003
Posts: 7366
Location: UK
|
|
| Fri May 23, 2008 18:52 pm Experience of vs Experience in |
|
|
How about?
He's an expert of French.
He's an expert in French.
=> I choose "in" here. |
|
nessie
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 16 Feb 2008
Posts: 1031
|
|
| Fri May 23, 2008 23:29 pm Experience of vs Experience in |
|
|
| nessie wrote: | How about?
He's an expert of French.
He's an expert in French.
=> I choose "in" here. |
Yes; you are expert in and experienced in.
All the best,
MrP |
|
MrPedantic
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 1193
Location: Southern England
|
|
| Fri May 23, 2008 23:41 pm Experience of vs Experience in |
|
|
| Quote: | I would regard "have experience in" as a subset of "have experience of": the latter tends to relate to direct experience, but the former, direct or indirect experience.
|
Or as I should have said, "the former tends to relate to direct experience, but the latter, direct or indirect experience."
Here are some unambiguous examples of "experience of", in which the "experience" is clearly "direct" and relates to "knowledge".
MrP |
|
MrPedantic
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 1193
Location: Southern England
|
|
| Fri May 23, 2008 23:57 pm Experience of vs Experience in |
|
|
| Quote: | | I would regard "have experience in" as a subset of "have experience of": the latter tends to relate to direct experience, but the former, direct or indirect experience. |
And how does that make it a sub-set? Would you say the same for "knowledge in" and "knowledge of"? |
|
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 3705
|
|
| Fri May 23, 2008 23:59 pm Experience of vs Experience in |
|
|
| Alan wrote: | Hi,
I still maintain you have to have in your mind a clear picture of what meaning you attach to the word 'experience' before you start dancing on a pinhead with which is the 'correct' preposition to follow.
Alan |
Exactly. |
|
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 3705
|
|
|
| There are some examples for the benefit of people? | Memo: We have been approached by, ABC, Inc. to perform audit services on their... |
