Which is the correct usage of the verb "overlap": "overlaps" or "overlaps with"?
Which one is correct, "overlaps" or "overlaps with"?
- Your vacation period overlaps John's.
- Your vacation period overlaps with John's.
Solution 1:
You use "overlaps with" if the overlapping is symmetrical -- ie, one side is not somehow eclipsing the other but rather both sides are equal participants in the coincidence. Eg, Fred's schedule overlaps with John's.
You use plain "overlaps" if there is a reasonably clear distinction between the "overlapper" and the "overlappee". Eg, the carpet overlaps the vinyl floor.
Solution 2:
If you want to say about partly coincidence in time, you should use with: Your vacation period overlaps with John's. See other examples from English Oxford living dictionaries:
- The house of four girls also followed this pattern and two of their three months overlapped with two of the birthday months of my house.
- The game's 7.30 am kick off, with the final whistle at 9.15 am, meant the game overlapped with the start of the school day.
- That period overlaps with the breeding period for puffins at both colonies (mid-April through late August).
- Peter, am I remembering correctly that your time as a participant at the Jan van Eyck Akademie overlapped with Jan van Toorn's final year there?