Consistent with and Inconsistent with

How to use "consistent" and "inconsistent" correctly

This is an entry on my list of Common Errors in English Usage. Visit the main page for direct links to additional entries.

When relating the consistency of one thing to that of another, the correct preposition to use with the adjectives consistent and inconsistent is with, not to or any other preposition:

an eyewitness account consistent to the victim’s claims

an eyewitness account consistent with the victim’s claims

Related Resources

Common Errors in English Usage: Errors in diction and idiom commonly made by native speakers of English

List of Common Errors in English Usage (PDF): Printable version of the complete list

Common Grammar Errors: A list of common errors in grammar (topics like subject-verb agreement and parallelism) as distinct from usage

List of Common Errors in English Usage: PDF version

© 2006, 2008, and 2019 C. Brantley Collins, Jr.