wage war against/with

Members help members on grammar, vocab, pronunciation...

Moderator: EC

Post Reply
DavidDe
Member
Posts: 17
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2014 5:26 pm
Status: Learner of English

wage war against/with

Post by DavidDe »

Hello,

I never seen 'wage' following 'with' in dictionary; but it is very common for 'wage' following 'against' or 'on' instead as per dictionary suggests. This is while, I have seen many times in some notes or in movies that 'wage' is following 'with' i.e.

"Should the United States wage war with North Korea?"
Or,
"Making childern disappear is the war we wage with God. Makes people lose their faith. Turns them into demons like you." - Prisoners (2013) movie.

My question is that if 'wage with' in the above examples is misleading. I mean, although the writer is trying to convery that US may wage a war against North Korea, the sentence much means to me: US and North Korea ally and wage a war against another country! - which is not true.
What is your opinion?
User avatar
Joe
Admin/Teacher
Admin/Teacher
Posts: 1788
Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2003 6:56 am
Status: Teacher of English
Location: England

Re: wage war against/with

Post by Joe »

I tend to agree.

A wages war against B.

X wages war with Y against Z.
"We are not wholly bad or good, who live our lives under Milk Wood :-| " — Dylan Thomas, Under Milk Wood

eBooks: English Prepositions List | Essential Business Words | Learn English in Seven
DavidDe
Member
Posts: 17
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2014 5:26 pm
Status: Learner of English

Re: wage war against/with

Post by DavidDe »

Thanks Josef
Post Reply