Satisfied With vs. Satisfied That distinguishes Cambridge’s “pleased with” construction from its clause-taking “believing something is true” construction.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Use satisfied with for being pleased with an arrangement, result, or thing; use satisfied that before a clause when you believe something is true.
Key details
Confusion Familyusage-construction
Rule Familyconstruction choice
Termssatisfied with, satisfied that
Further guidance
Core difference
Cambridge separates satisfied with in the pleased/content sense from satisfied that in the convinced-or-believing sense.
Style Boundary
Choose by meaning and complement type; the two patterns are not interchangeable merely because both use the adjective satisfied.
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.
Satisfied↗ (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Direct learner-dictionary evidence for satisfied with and satisfied that constructions.
Agree With vs. Agree On separates directly documented constructions and keeps the distinction narrow rather than turning a context-sensitive pattern into a universal preposition rule.
Angry With vs. Angry About separates directly documented constructions and keeps the distinction narrow rather than turning a context-sensitive pattern into a universal preposition rule.
Appropriate For vs. Appropriate To separates directly documented constructions and keeps the distinction narrow rather than turning a context-sensitive pattern into a universal preposition rule.
Available To vs. Available For separates directly documented constructions and keeps the distinction narrow rather than turning a context-sensitive pattern into a universal preposition rule.
Be Bound To Do vs. Bound For Somewhere separates two distinct Oxford-documented senses. Bound to do/be expresses certainty or likelihood, while bound for + destination describes travel toward a place. The guide keeps those senses separate from legal or duty-bound uses.
Be Elated To Do vs. Elated By Something compares two directly documented complement patterns for “elated.” Oxford evidence supports an infinitival use as well as elated at/by + noun phrase, so the guide explains the construction choice without generalizing from synonyms.
