The woman, who cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of voluntarily causing hurt by an instrument likely to cause death.
Can “with” substitute for “by”?
Thanks.
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The woman, whose name cannot be released to protect the victim’s identity, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of intentionally causing injury with an instrument capable of causing death.
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I suspect that this is a specific description of a crime in the local laws and the reporter is using it verbatim to maintain the highest accuracy.
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Arinker might be right that this is specific legal language. If that is the case then it probably shouldn’t be changed.
If you want to look at the non-legal structure, simplify the sentence and look at how the verb is used. Is it active or passive voice?
She hurt the victim with an instrument.
The victim was hurt by an instrument.
You can use with in the second sentence, but you can not use by in the first sentence. Although the following is OK:
She hurt the victim by using an instrument.
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As far as I know, ‘with’ is used when the following noun is concrete in form and ‘by’ when the following noun is abstract.
So, to me, ‘with’ is apt and appropriate.
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I think the constructions with ‘by’ normally don’t have an article:
by car
by plane
by chance
by credit card
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