5

I was doing a chapter in my grammar and there I found the following sentences

This mango is very sweet
In this sentence, very shows in what degree the mango is sweet.

What my confusion is

We use to what degree but here in what degree is used and it sounds very weird.

Improve this question
5
  • 2
    I agree with you that "to what degree" seems more natural.
    – J.R. ♦
    Commented Jun 2, 2019 at 19:05
  • Can you specify the name of the source please?
    – a_faulty_star
    Commented Jun 5, 2019 at 8:52
  • Please include the book's title. It's important to know if the author is a native speaker, if the book was published recently, if the quotation is used as an example of correct usage or not, if you copied the text precisely/accurately.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jun 6, 2019 at 8:08
  • Wren and Martin
    – user93387
    Commented Jun 6, 2019 at 8:13
  • You're supposed to include that information IN the question. Please tell us the title of the book. Good thing I checked back, and saw the comment. In order to communicate directly with users, in the comment section, use @ followed by their username.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jun 6, 2019 at 11:58

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
3
+25

I never found "in what degree" until now in my experience. "To what degree" is the most common variant.

I suspect that "in what degree" is actually English words fit to foreign grammar.

Compare:

În ce măsură este mango dulce?

Word-to-word translation into English:

In what measure (degree) is mango sweet?

It is possible that the author of the original text is a non-native English speaker - which explains the unusual text.

Improve this answer
1

These two are grammatically correct.

Q: "To what degree was the mango sweet?"/ "In what degree was the mango sweet?" A: "Very sweet"

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    Will you please explain why are those correct? Without an explanation, OP cannot learn English better. Just providing examples is usually not enough - and in this case, it is not enough. Please edit your answer and add more details.
    – virolino
    Commented Jun 5, 2019 at 10:36
0

According to Merriam-Webster, "to what degree" means "how much." "In what degree" is not even in the dictionary, but both phrases can be found in formal texts; the search in Google site:gov for:

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    Is "Ludwig.guru" a native or proficient speaker of English? Just provide credible sources. Further, the number of results Google reports is an estimate (and often wrong) which also doesn't take context into account. All in all, none of what you've presented here is meaningful in the way you're trying to make it seem – as proof of idiomatic English. (–1)
    – user3395
    Commented Jun 5, 2019 at 11:13
  • Gov sites include pubmed.gov and many other medical and nutrition-related websites, most of which probably use idiomatic English. Merriam-Webster is also probably a credible source.
    – Jan
    Commented Jun 5, 2019 at 11:38
-1

It is not incorrect to use "in what degree", but the most common way of saying it is "to what degree".

Some statistics:

IN AMERICAN ENGLISH

"TO WHAT DEGREE" occurred 99.01%
"IN WHAT DEGREE" occurred 00.98%

IN BRITISH ENGLISH

"TO WHAT DEGREE" occurred 98.94%
"IN WHAT DEGREE" occurred 01.06%

IN CANADIAN ENGLISH

"TO WHAT DEGREE" occurred 95.95%
"IN WHAT DEGREE" occurred 04.05%

IN THE ENGLISH USED IN IRELAND

"TO WHAT DEGREE" occurred 99.97%
"IN WHAT DEGREE" occurred 00.03%

IN AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH

"TO WHAT DEGREE" occurred 98.46%
"IN WHAT DEGREE" occurred 01.54%

IN NEW ZEALAND ENGLISH

"TO WHAT DEGREE" occurred 99.98%
"IN WHAT DEGREE" occurred 00.02%

IN INDIAN ENGLISH

"TO WHAT DEGREE" occurred 95.65%
"IN WHAT DEGREE" occurred 04.35%

This statistics shows the degree of rarity of "in what degree". No wonder you being an Indian, as that is what I suppose, found that phrase in your Indian book. Interestingly there is no occurrence of "in what degree" in the English used in your neighboring countries, that is Pakistan and Sri Lanka (during the period this statics is based on).

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.