
English Teacher
Dear native speakers,
In the following sentence isn't it better to use "by" instead of "with"? I saw this sentence in a book and since the sentence seems to be passive so I think that "by" is better than "with" to use!
"Within days, he is very despondent and so overcome with lethargy that he can't even get out of bed."
Thanks.
Although 'by' would be possible, 'with' is actually more idiomatic in this case, where 'overcome' is treated as an adjective rather than a past participle in a passive construction.