Compatible With: Standard Pattern
Compatible With: Standard Pattern records the directly documented Cambridge construction without inventing a parallel “compatible to” rule that the reviewed source does not establish.
Cambridge documents “compatible with” for things or people that can exist, work, or be used successfully together.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / situation | Form / construction | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| things can exist or work together successfully | compatible with | Use the documented “with” construction. |
| people are suited to one another | compatible with | The same documented complement applies to the relationship sense. |
Quick tests
Compatibility test
Does the sentence mean that two things or people can coexist, work, or be used successfully together?
If yes: Use “compatible with.”
If no: If that is not the intended meaning, choose a different adjective rather than substituting a preposition mechanically.
Examples
The adapter is compatible with the older device.
“With” links things that can be used together.
The two schedules are compatible with each other.
The construction expresses successful coexistence.
This guide documents “compatible with” without inventing an unsupported universal rule about every nearby form.
The boundary follows the reviewed source.
Further guidance
Construction
Cambridge gives compatible with in both general and technical senses.
Style Boundary
This page records the supported construction; it does not claim that every occurrence of compatible must be followed by a complement.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- compatible — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Cambridge dictionary evidence for the adjective construction compatible with something or someone.