Filled With: Standard Pattern
Filled With: Standard Pattern records a directly documented English construction and keeps guidance bounded to the evidenced pattern rather than inventing a broader prohibition.
Use “fill something with something” for putting contents into a space; the corresponding passive or participial pattern is “be filled with.”
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / situation | Form / construction | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| put contents into something | fill + object + with + contents | Use the active pattern when someone or something performs the filling. |
| describe the resulting state | be filled with + contents | Use the passive/participial pattern for what occupies the space. |
Quick tests
Meaning / construction test
Are you describing what a container, space, or thing contains as a resulting state?
If yes: Use “be filled with.”
If no: If you are describing the action, use “fill something with something.”
Caveat: This page is bounded to the documented “fill something with something / be filled with” construction and does not generalize every sense of “fill.”
Examples
She filled the jar with rice.
The active pattern places the container before “with.”
The jar was filled with rice.
The passive pattern describes the resulting state.
The hall was filled with music.
The participial pattern can describe what pervades a space.
Further guidance
Construction
Use “fill something with something” for putting contents into a space; the corresponding passive or participial pattern is “be filled with.”
Style Boundary
The active pattern takes an object before “with,” while “filled with” describes the resulting state; this page does not treat every sense of “fill” as the same construction.
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.
- FILL SOMETHING WITH SOMETHING — Cambridge English Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary · Direct dictionary evidence for “fill … with …” and “filled with …” constructions.