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I looked it up in the dictionary and it was given this example:

Low-lying farmland may be at risk from flooding this weekend

It was also said that the use of of is generally allowed. So I was wondering whether or not

Low-lying farmland may be at risk of flooding this weekend

would be marked as grammatically correct.

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2

They are both correct, but "at risk of" is actually a more common construction compared to "at risk from", see Ngram.

Ngram: "at risk of flooding", vs "at risk from flooding".

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I know it has been four years, but in my mind the two sentences are different.

"Low-lying farmland may be at risk from flooding this weekend" in my mind means there will be flooding and this will be risky for the low-lying farmland, which may end up destroyed. "Low-lying farmland may be at risk of flooding this weekend" in my mind means that there is a risk the the low-lying farmland will be flooded.

In another example that is more current (2020) "Older people are more at risk from getting the coronavirus." = If older people get the coronavirus, the risk for them is higher. "Older people are more at risk of getting the coronavirus." = Older people are more likely to get the coronavirus.

Maybe this is just old-fashioned, since I was born in 1950 and languages change.

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  • Hi, welcome to ELL! Thanks for writing up a great answer. Don't worry about answering old questions. There is a reason the answer box under old questions is always open to new answers (with exceptions). Sometimes late answers can be better answers. – Eddie Kal♦ Nov 22 '20 at 20:03

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