Decide vs. Decide (up)on

How to use "decide" with and without a preposition correctly

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The verb to decide can be either a transitive verb (a verb that takes an object) or an intransitive verb (a verb that does not take an object unless a preposition follows it).

To decide an issue means “to solve, settle, or determine” it. In this case it is a transitive verb, and no preposition is used. The expression decided on should be used to introduce the ultimate outcome of the situation or decision:

The general’s orders decided on the matter.
The general’s orders decided the matter.

The general decided on/upon a direct assault.

stopped while we decided on/upon which route to take
stopped while we decided which route to take

We finally decided on/upon the quicker route.

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