The key to my room. Vs The key of my room












8















To. Vs of





  • I am looking for the key of my room.


  • I am looking for the key to my room.





I have just known that the second is right and the first is wrong. However, sometimes it is confusing in a lot of situations to discern what the right one is.



Is there any rule in regard to the usage of to and of, particularly when we want to describe the belongings or possessions of something?!



Do I have to say





  • the damage to my house, or the damage of my house


  • the door to my room, or the door of my room


  • the password to my account, or the password of my account?












share|improve this question























  • The most natural phrases (to my British English ears) are "I am looking for the key for my room", and "the password for my account".

    – Martin Bonner
    yesterday
















8















To. Vs of





  • I am looking for the key of my room.


  • I am looking for the key to my room.





I have just known that the second is right and the first is wrong. However, sometimes it is confusing in a lot of situations to discern what the right one is.



Is there any rule in regard to the usage of to and of, particularly when we want to describe the belongings or possessions of something?!



Do I have to say





  • the damage to my house, or the damage of my house


  • the door to my room, or the door of my room


  • the password to my account, or the password of my account?












share|improve this question























  • The most natural phrases (to my British English ears) are "I am looking for the key for my room", and "the password for my account".

    – Martin Bonner
    yesterday














8












8








8


1






To. Vs of





  • I am looking for the key of my room.


  • I am looking for the key to my room.





I have just known that the second is right and the first is wrong. However, sometimes it is confusing in a lot of situations to discern what the right one is.



Is there any rule in regard to the usage of to and of, particularly when we want to describe the belongings or possessions of something?!



Do I have to say





  • the damage to my house, or the damage of my house


  • the door to my room, or the door of my room


  • the password to my account, or the password of my account?












share|improve this question














To. Vs of





  • I am looking for the key of my room.


  • I am looking for the key to my room.





I have just known that the second is right and the first is wrong. However, sometimes it is confusing in a lot of situations to discern what the right one is.



Is there any rule in regard to the usage of to and of, particularly when we want to describe the belongings or possessions of something?!



Do I have to say





  • the damage to my house, or the damage of my house


  • the door to my room, or the door of my room


  • the password to my account, or the password of my account?









grammar prepositions prepositional-phrases possessives






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked yesterday









Bavyan YaldoBavyan Yaldo

1,5261835




1,5261835













  • The most natural phrases (to my British English ears) are "I am looking for the key for my room", and "the password for my account".

    – Martin Bonner
    yesterday



















  • The most natural phrases (to my British English ears) are "I am looking for the key for my room", and "the password for my account".

    – Martin Bonner
    yesterday

















The most natural phrases (to my British English ears) are "I am looking for the key for my room", and "the password for my account".

– Martin Bonner
yesterday





The most natural phrases (to my British English ears) are "I am looking for the key for my room", and "the password for my account".

– Martin Bonner
yesterday










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















14














I have studied four Indo-European languages in addition to my native English. If there are any rules on which prepositions are proper in which situations, they are not easily discerned or explicated in any of those languages. In English, the predominant preposition relating to accessibility seems to be "to."



So "door to that room," "key to that lock," and "password to that account" are all idiomatic. However, "door of that room," "key for that lock," and "password for that account" are also idiomatic.



That quasi-rule about "to" being associated with accessibility has no apparent relevance to the phrase "damage to," but "to" is idiomatic although sometimes "damage in" will be idiomatic.



EDIT: Although "the key of that lock" does not sound euphonius, "that lock's key" sounds perfectly natural. Prepositions are weird.






share|improve this answer





















  • 1





    "the key of that lock" is euphonious enough if the emphasis is on that, as compared with "the key of this lock". But it does seem to need emphasis on one of the words "key", "that" or "lock" - it doesn't sound right as a "neutral" reference to the object in question.

    – alephzero
    yesterday











  • @alephzero Agreed. It is like many things in English: exceptions abound. But the primary points that I wanted to make were that: (a) "to" is idiomatic in all the examples given, (b) sometimes more than one preposition will work, and (c) usage of prepositions is not subject to clear-cut rules.

    – Jeff Morrow
    yesterday






  • 2





    I wouldn't consider "door of that room" to be idiomatic.

    – Harry Johnston
    yesterday






  • 2





    "The door of the room suddenly blew open" is not idiomatic?

    – Jeff Morrow
    yesterday











  • +1 for a most intelligent answer, defying those who seek rules for everything as did Professor Grammar on the BBC World Service years ago.

    – JeremyC
    yesterday



















8














The choice of to or of is largely governed by idiom and will vary according to the context. More often than not, native English speakers will refer to the key to the safe, the door, the house, resolving a problem and much else.



It's idiomatic. In fact, in most cases, they will simply say the room/safe/door key but that's not what you are asking about.



The key of my room is acceptable but less likely than the key to my room.
And the same is true for the door and the password. Damage is definitely to something and NOT of something.



Google Books Ngram Viewer indicates that while the expression the key of was twice as popular as the key to in the first half of the 19th century, the key to subsequently prevailed and is now about six times as common as the key of.



It's hard to make a rule but as a guide, prefer the key to as the safer option in most instances.



https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=the+key+to%2Cthe+key+of&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cthe%20key%20to%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cthe%20key%20of%3B%2Cc0






share|improve this answer























    Your Answer








    StackExchange.ready(function() {
    var channelOptions = {
    tags: "".split(" "),
    id: "481"
    };
    initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

    StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
    // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
    if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
    StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
    createEditor();
    });
    }
    else {
    createEditor();
    }
    });

    function createEditor() {
    StackExchange.prepareEditor({
    heartbeatType: 'answer',
    autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
    convertImagesToLinks: false,
    noModals: true,
    showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
    reputationToPostImages: null,
    bindNavPrevention: true,
    postfix: "",
    imageUploader: {
    brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
    contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
    allowUrls: true
    },
    noCode: true, onDemand: true,
    discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
    ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
    });


    }
    });














    draft saved

    draft discarded


















    StackExchange.ready(
    function () {
    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f193043%2fthe-key-to-my-room-vs-the-key-of-my-room%23new-answer', 'question_page');
    }
    );

    Post as a guest















    Required, but never shown

























    2 Answers
    2






    active

    oldest

    votes








    2 Answers
    2






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes









    14














    I have studied four Indo-European languages in addition to my native English. If there are any rules on which prepositions are proper in which situations, they are not easily discerned or explicated in any of those languages. In English, the predominant preposition relating to accessibility seems to be "to."



    So "door to that room," "key to that lock," and "password to that account" are all idiomatic. However, "door of that room," "key for that lock," and "password for that account" are also idiomatic.



    That quasi-rule about "to" being associated with accessibility has no apparent relevance to the phrase "damage to," but "to" is idiomatic although sometimes "damage in" will be idiomatic.



    EDIT: Although "the key of that lock" does not sound euphonius, "that lock's key" sounds perfectly natural. Prepositions are weird.






    share|improve this answer





















    • 1





      "the key of that lock" is euphonious enough if the emphasis is on that, as compared with "the key of this lock". But it does seem to need emphasis on one of the words "key", "that" or "lock" - it doesn't sound right as a "neutral" reference to the object in question.

      – alephzero
      yesterday











    • @alephzero Agreed. It is like many things in English: exceptions abound. But the primary points that I wanted to make were that: (a) "to" is idiomatic in all the examples given, (b) sometimes more than one preposition will work, and (c) usage of prepositions is not subject to clear-cut rules.

      – Jeff Morrow
      yesterday






    • 2





      I wouldn't consider "door of that room" to be idiomatic.

      – Harry Johnston
      yesterday






    • 2





      "The door of the room suddenly blew open" is not idiomatic?

      – Jeff Morrow
      yesterday











    • +1 for a most intelligent answer, defying those who seek rules for everything as did Professor Grammar on the BBC World Service years ago.

      – JeremyC
      yesterday
















    14














    I have studied four Indo-European languages in addition to my native English. If there are any rules on which prepositions are proper in which situations, they are not easily discerned or explicated in any of those languages. In English, the predominant preposition relating to accessibility seems to be "to."



    So "door to that room," "key to that lock," and "password to that account" are all idiomatic. However, "door of that room," "key for that lock," and "password for that account" are also idiomatic.



    That quasi-rule about "to" being associated with accessibility has no apparent relevance to the phrase "damage to," but "to" is idiomatic although sometimes "damage in" will be idiomatic.



    EDIT: Although "the key of that lock" does not sound euphonius, "that lock's key" sounds perfectly natural. Prepositions are weird.






    share|improve this answer





















    • 1





      "the key of that lock" is euphonious enough if the emphasis is on that, as compared with "the key of this lock". But it does seem to need emphasis on one of the words "key", "that" or "lock" - it doesn't sound right as a "neutral" reference to the object in question.

      – alephzero
      yesterday











    • @alephzero Agreed. It is like many things in English: exceptions abound. But the primary points that I wanted to make were that: (a) "to" is idiomatic in all the examples given, (b) sometimes more than one preposition will work, and (c) usage of prepositions is not subject to clear-cut rules.

      – Jeff Morrow
      yesterday






    • 2





      I wouldn't consider "door of that room" to be idiomatic.

      – Harry Johnston
      yesterday






    • 2





      "The door of the room suddenly blew open" is not idiomatic?

      – Jeff Morrow
      yesterday











    • +1 for a most intelligent answer, defying those who seek rules for everything as did Professor Grammar on the BBC World Service years ago.

      – JeremyC
      yesterday














    14












    14








    14







    I have studied four Indo-European languages in addition to my native English. If there are any rules on which prepositions are proper in which situations, they are not easily discerned or explicated in any of those languages. In English, the predominant preposition relating to accessibility seems to be "to."



    So "door to that room," "key to that lock," and "password to that account" are all idiomatic. However, "door of that room," "key for that lock," and "password for that account" are also idiomatic.



    That quasi-rule about "to" being associated with accessibility has no apparent relevance to the phrase "damage to," but "to" is idiomatic although sometimes "damage in" will be idiomatic.



    EDIT: Although "the key of that lock" does not sound euphonius, "that lock's key" sounds perfectly natural. Prepositions are weird.






    share|improve this answer















    I have studied four Indo-European languages in addition to my native English. If there are any rules on which prepositions are proper in which situations, they are not easily discerned or explicated in any of those languages. In English, the predominant preposition relating to accessibility seems to be "to."



    So "door to that room," "key to that lock," and "password to that account" are all idiomatic. However, "door of that room," "key for that lock," and "password for that account" are also idiomatic.



    That quasi-rule about "to" being associated with accessibility has no apparent relevance to the phrase "damage to," but "to" is idiomatic although sometimes "damage in" will be idiomatic.



    EDIT: Although "the key of that lock" does not sound euphonius, "that lock's key" sounds perfectly natural. Prepositions are weird.







    share|improve this answer














    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer








    edited yesterday

























    answered yesterday









    Jeff MorrowJeff Morrow

    9,9751125




    9,9751125








    • 1





      "the key of that lock" is euphonious enough if the emphasis is on that, as compared with "the key of this lock". But it does seem to need emphasis on one of the words "key", "that" or "lock" - it doesn't sound right as a "neutral" reference to the object in question.

      – alephzero
      yesterday











    • @alephzero Agreed. It is like many things in English: exceptions abound. But the primary points that I wanted to make were that: (a) "to" is idiomatic in all the examples given, (b) sometimes more than one preposition will work, and (c) usage of prepositions is not subject to clear-cut rules.

      – Jeff Morrow
      yesterday






    • 2





      I wouldn't consider "door of that room" to be idiomatic.

      – Harry Johnston
      yesterday






    • 2





      "The door of the room suddenly blew open" is not idiomatic?

      – Jeff Morrow
      yesterday











    • +1 for a most intelligent answer, defying those who seek rules for everything as did Professor Grammar on the BBC World Service years ago.

      – JeremyC
      yesterday














    • 1





      "the key of that lock" is euphonious enough if the emphasis is on that, as compared with "the key of this lock". But it does seem to need emphasis on one of the words "key", "that" or "lock" - it doesn't sound right as a "neutral" reference to the object in question.

      – alephzero
      yesterday











    • @alephzero Agreed. It is like many things in English: exceptions abound. But the primary points that I wanted to make were that: (a) "to" is idiomatic in all the examples given, (b) sometimes more than one preposition will work, and (c) usage of prepositions is not subject to clear-cut rules.

      – Jeff Morrow
      yesterday






    • 2





      I wouldn't consider "door of that room" to be idiomatic.

      – Harry Johnston
      yesterday






    • 2





      "The door of the room suddenly blew open" is not idiomatic?

      – Jeff Morrow
      yesterday











    • +1 for a most intelligent answer, defying those who seek rules for everything as did Professor Grammar on the BBC World Service years ago.

      – JeremyC
      yesterday








    1




    1





    "the key of that lock" is euphonious enough if the emphasis is on that, as compared with "the key of this lock". But it does seem to need emphasis on one of the words "key", "that" or "lock" - it doesn't sound right as a "neutral" reference to the object in question.

    – alephzero
    yesterday





    "the key of that lock" is euphonious enough if the emphasis is on that, as compared with "the key of this lock". But it does seem to need emphasis on one of the words "key", "that" or "lock" - it doesn't sound right as a "neutral" reference to the object in question.

    – alephzero
    yesterday













    @alephzero Agreed. It is like many things in English: exceptions abound. But the primary points that I wanted to make were that: (a) "to" is idiomatic in all the examples given, (b) sometimes more than one preposition will work, and (c) usage of prepositions is not subject to clear-cut rules.

    – Jeff Morrow
    yesterday





    @alephzero Agreed. It is like many things in English: exceptions abound. But the primary points that I wanted to make were that: (a) "to" is idiomatic in all the examples given, (b) sometimes more than one preposition will work, and (c) usage of prepositions is not subject to clear-cut rules.

    – Jeff Morrow
    yesterday




    2




    2





    I wouldn't consider "door of that room" to be idiomatic.

    – Harry Johnston
    yesterday





    I wouldn't consider "door of that room" to be idiomatic.

    – Harry Johnston
    yesterday




    2




    2





    "The door of the room suddenly blew open" is not idiomatic?

    – Jeff Morrow
    yesterday





    "The door of the room suddenly blew open" is not idiomatic?

    – Jeff Morrow
    yesterday













    +1 for a most intelligent answer, defying those who seek rules for everything as did Professor Grammar on the BBC World Service years ago.

    – JeremyC
    yesterday





    +1 for a most intelligent answer, defying those who seek rules for everything as did Professor Grammar on the BBC World Service years ago.

    – JeremyC
    yesterday













    8














    The choice of to or of is largely governed by idiom and will vary according to the context. More often than not, native English speakers will refer to the key to the safe, the door, the house, resolving a problem and much else.



    It's idiomatic. In fact, in most cases, they will simply say the room/safe/door key but that's not what you are asking about.



    The key of my room is acceptable but less likely than the key to my room.
    And the same is true for the door and the password. Damage is definitely to something and NOT of something.



    Google Books Ngram Viewer indicates that while the expression the key of was twice as popular as the key to in the first half of the 19th century, the key to subsequently prevailed and is now about six times as common as the key of.



    It's hard to make a rule but as a guide, prefer the key to as the safer option in most instances.



    https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=the+key+to%2Cthe+key+of&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cthe%20key%20to%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cthe%20key%20of%3B%2Cc0






    share|improve this answer




























      8














      The choice of to or of is largely governed by idiom and will vary according to the context. More often than not, native English speakers will refer to the key to the safe, the door, the house, resolving a problem and much else.



      It's idiomatic. In fact, in most cases, they will simply say the room/safe/door key but that's not what you are asking about.



      The key of my room is acceptable but less likely than the key to my room.
      And the same is true for the door and the password. Damage is definitely to something and NOT of something.



      Google Books Ngram Viewer indicates that while the expression the key of was twice as popular as the key to in the first half of the 19th century, the key to subsequently prevailed and is now about six times as common as the key of.



      It's hard to make a rule but as a guide, prefer the key to as the safer option in most instances.



      https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=the+key+to%2Cthe+key+of&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cthe%20key%20to%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cthe%20key%20of%3B%2Cc0






      share|improve this answer


























        8












        8








        8







        The choice of to or of is largely governed by idiom and will vary according to the context. More often than not, native English speakers will refer to the key to the safe, the door, the house, resolving a problem and much else.



        It's idiomatic. In fact, in most cases, they will simply say the room/safe/door key but that's not what you are asking about.



        The key of my room is acceptable but less likely than the key to my room.
        And the same is true for the door and the password. Damage is definitely to something and NOT of something.



        Google Books Ngram Viewer indicates that while the expression the key of was twice as popular as the key to in the first half of the 19th century, the key to subsequently prevailed and is now about six times as common as the key of.



        It's hard to make a rule but as a guide, prefer the key to as the safer option in most instances.



        https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=the+key+to%2Cthe+key+of&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cthe%20key%20to%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cthe%20key%20of%3B%2Cc0






        share|improve this answer













        The choice of to or of is largely governed by idiom and will vary according to the context. More often than not, native English speakers will refer to the key to the safe, the door, the house, resolving a problem and much else.



        It's idiomatic. In fact, in most cases, they will simply say the room/safe/door key but that's not what you are asking about.



        The key of my room is acceptable but less likely than the key to my room.
        And the same is true for the door and the password. Damage is definitely to something and NOT of something.



        Google Books Ngram Viewer indicates that while the expression the key of was twice as popular as the key to in the first half of the 19th century, the key to subsequently prevailed and is now about six times as common as the key of.



        It's hard to make a rule but as a guide, prefer the key to as the safer option in most instances.



        https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=the+key+to%2Cthe+key+of&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cthe%20key%20to%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cthe%20key%20of%3B%2Cc0







        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered yesterday









        Ronald SoleRonald Sole

        10.6k11121




        10.6k11121






























            draft saved

            draft discarded




















































            Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language Learners Stack Exchange!


            • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

            But avoid



            • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

            • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


            To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




            draft saved


            draft discarded














            StackExchange.ready(
            function () {
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f193043%2fthe-key-to-my-room-vs-the-key-of-my-room%23new-answer', 'question_page');
            }
            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown





















































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown

































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown







            Popular posts from this blog

            Loup dans la culture

            How to solve the problem of ntp “Unable to contact time server” from KDE?

            ASUS Zenbook UX433/UX333 — Configure Touchpad-embedded numpad on Linux