take in two inches vs. shorten sth by two inches

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi,

I have some questions on the preposition “by”.

(1) I want the waist taken in two inches.
(2) Shorten the sleeves by two inches.

Shorten has the same meaning as take in. Then, why isn’t “by” used in (1)? I mean, shouldn’t it be “I want the wast taken in by two inches.”? So, my questions are:

a) Why is “by” used in (2) while it is not used in (1)?
b) If I put “by” before “two” in (1), would it be wrong?
c) When is the “by” used?

Thank you for your answers in advance,
sweetpumpkin

2

Hi,

‘Shorten’ is used to indicate reduction in length and we would use ‘by’ to indicate the amount. It could also be used in the same way with ‘reduce’ as in: Inflation has been reduced by 1%.

‘Take in’ is used not so much for length as for circumference/width and is usually followed without an additional preposition when talking of the mount. I suppose that ‘in’ is sufficient on its own.

Alan