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Prepositions after verbs

Corroborate with, by, or from

Corroborate is usually transitive and often takes no preposition. Corroborate with is common when mentioning supporting evidence. Corroborate by and corroborate from are generally nonstandard after the verb.

Quick answer

Which preposition is used with corroborate?

Use corroborate something or corroborate something with evidence. Corroborate by and corroborate from are usually incorrect after the verb itself.

The witness corroborated the story.
They corroborated the claim with new evidence.
The records corroborate his account.

Choose the pattern by meaning

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

1
corroborate + claim/story/account

Supporting a statement

Corroborate is commonly used directly with the thing being supported.

The documents corroborate the report.
Several sources corroborated her version of events.
2
corroborate + statement + with + evidence

Adding supporting evidence

Use with to introduce the evidence that supports a statement or claim.

Police corroborated the witness statement with video footage.
Researchers corroborated the findings with additional data.
3
be corroborated by + evidence

Using the passive form

By is natural in passive structures to name the source of support.

The claim was corroborated by medical records.
His account was corroborated by two colleagues.

See the difference in context

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

Construction
Example
Meaning
corroborate with
The scientist corroborated the theory with fresh data.
uses evidence to support something
corroborate by
The theory was corroborated by several experiments.
standard mainly in passive structures, not usually after active corroborate
corroborate from
We corroborated the timeline from archived emails.
from introduces the source of information, not a fixed verb-preposition pattern

Common mistakes

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

Adding by after active corroborate

In active sentences, corroborate usually takes a direct object or with + evidence.

✕ They corroborated by witness reports the accusation. ✓ They corroborated the accusation with witness reports.

Treating from as the verb's fixed preposition

From can introduce a source, but it is not the normal complement after corroborate.

✕ The police corroborated from new evidence his story. ✓ The police corroborated his story with new evidence.

Quick practice

Choose the expression that matches the intended meaning.

1. The lawyer corroborated the statement ___ phone records.
2. Her account was corroborated ___ several witnesses.
3. The documents ___ his explanation.

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Frequently asked questions

Can corroborate be used without a preposition?

Yes. Corroborate is commonly followed directly by a noun phrase, such as corroborate a claim or corroborate a report.

Is corroborate with correct?

Yes. Use corroborate something with evidence to mention supporting material.

Is corroborate from correct?

Not usually as a fixed pattern. From may introduce the source of information in the sentence, but it is not the normal complement after corroborate.

calculate, by, calculate, in, calculate, from "call for" or "call on"? "campaign for" or "campaign against"? cancel by, due, at, in or for? capitulate to, in, like, by or after? captivate by, for, with, from or in? "capture by" or "capture in"? "care about" or "care for"? carry with, by, in, to or into? carve into, out, in, on or with? cast in, into, for, by or on? "catch in", "catch by" or "catch on"?

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