Stained With: Standard Pattern
Stained With: Standard Pattern records a directly documented English construction and keeps guidance bounded to the evidenced pattern rather than turning one attested complement into a universal prohibition.
Use “stained with” when something bears a difficult-to-remove mark or discoloration caused by a substance.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning | Pattern | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| a surface bears a mark or discoloration caused by a substance | be stained with + substance | Use the documented construction. |
| the substance causing the difficult-to-remove mark is named | stained with + noun phrase | “With” naturally introduces the staining substance. |
| a different relation involving “stain” | choose the construction for that sense | Do not turn this pattern into an exclusive preposition rule. |
Quick tests
Cause-of-mark test
Does the phrase after “with” name the substance responsible for the mark or discoloration?
If yes: “Stained with” is a natural documented pattern.
If no: Choose the construction that expresses the intended relation instead of forcing “with.”
Caveat: This page records one evidenced construction and does not claim that every use of “stain” requires “with.”
Examples
The sleeve was stained with coffee.
“With” introduces the substance that caused the mark.
The page was stained with ink.
The construction links the marked object to the staining substance.
His gloves were stained with paint after the job.
“Paint” names the substance responsible for the visible mark.
Further guidance
Construction
Use “stained with” when something bears a difficult-to-remove mark or discoloration caused by a substance.
Style Boundary
Cambridge directly gives “be stained with” for physical marks and also documents a separate literary figurative sense. This page keeps the practical construction guidance anchored to the physical marking sense.
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.
- stain — Cambridge English Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary · Direct Cambridge dictionary evidence for “be stained with” in the physical-mark sense, with a separately identified literary figurative sense.