disappearance of 'in'?

[dante1024]

In the following sentence:

They have difficulty in making decisions, are troubled by ambiguity, and feel pressure from both groups.

What is the reason that the presence or absence of the preposition 'in' doesn't affect the meaning?

Thanks!

[banderas]

In the following sentence:

They have difficulty in making decisions, are troubled by ambiguity, and feel pressure from both groups.

What is the reason that the presence or absence of the preposition 'in' doesn't affect the meaning?

Thanks!

This is a good point.They have difficulty making decisions=they are in the process of making decisions and have difficulty.
They have difficulty in making decisions=they are not necessarilly in the process of doing it. You sometimes have to use "in" though.
They have difficulty in finance.

[dante1024]

This is a good point.They have difficulty making decisions=they are in the process of making decisions and have difficulty.
They have difficulty in making decisions=they are not necessarilly in the process of doing it. You sometimes have to use "in" though.
They have difficulty in finance.

I don't really understand, do you mean there are different meanings between them? And when do we need 'in'?

[banderas]

I don't really understand, do you mean there are different meanings between them? And when do we need 'in'?

Grammarian purists migh say they are slightly different but I am not one of them.
Certainly you need "in" when you have difficulty in (a noun).
You can not say:
I have difficulty finance, can you? You need "in" here.

[dante1024]

I see, thanks!

[beaverbeaver]

this is just a hunch ,

we MUST use in if we're talking about something specific, a certain field/place/etc

but if it's gerund or activity or action, like in the first post "making dec.." which is a gerund, then it's up to you , if you see making dec as a "particular Field of expertise" then you use IN , if you see it only as an activity then you can omit the in .

Like this :
Activity, not a specific field : reading, writing, watching tv
specific field : landscaping, modeling<the modeling business>, etc

just guessing after saying the sentences out loud ....silly me

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