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Prepositions after adjectives

Commensurate with, to or in?

Commensurate is normally followed by with to show equality or proportionality.

Quick answer

Use commensurate with

Commensurate with means matching in size, value, or importance. Other prepositions are uncommon or nonstandard after this adjective.

Salary should be commensurate with experience.
The reward was commensurate with the effort.

Choose the pattern by meaning

These forms are not interchangeable. Choose the construction by meaning, not by which preposition appears most often.

1
commensurate with + noun

Showing proportionality

Use with when two things match appropriately.

Benefits must be commensurate with costs.
2
commensurate with + responsibility

Talking about rank or status

Common in professional and legal contexts.

Pay should be commensurate with responsibility.

See the difference in context

The same subject can take different constructions because each sentence answers a different question.

Construction
Example
Meaning
commensurate with
The budget is commensurate with the project scope.
standard pattern meaning proportional or matching
commensurate to
The pay is commensurate to experience.
occasionally seen, but with is preferred in standard English
commensurate in
The roles are commensurate in value.
in introduces a category, not the normal complement
proportional to
The fee is proportional to income.
common alternative expression

Common mistakes

Some combinations appear in real text but do not mean what learners often assume.

Using to instead of with

Standard edited English strongly prefers with.

✕ The salary is commensurate to skills. ✓ The salary is commensurate with skills.

Using commensurate without comparison

The adjective usually compares two things.

✕ The package is commensurate. ✓ The package is commensurate with the workload.

Quick practice

Choose the expression that matches the intended meaning.

1. Compensation should be commensurate ___ experience.
2. Which phrase is preferred in formal writing?
3. The risk was commensurate ___ the potential reward.

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Frequently asked questions

Is commensurate formal?

Yes. It is common in business, academic, and legal English.

Can I use commensurate to?

Some speakers do, but commensurate with is more widely accepted.

What is a simpler alternative?

Proportional to or matching can often replace commensurate with.

calm, in, calm, for, calm, about "candid about" or "candid in"? capable of or in? careful about, with, of, in or on? careless about, with, in, of or on? caribbean in, for, with, to or on? "catastrophic for" or "catastrophic to"? "cautious about" or "cautious in"? celtic in, for, on, at or to? central to, in, for, at or of? "certain of" or "certain about"? "challenging for" or "challenging of"?

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