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Consider an application called "OpenTasks". "OpenTasks" has a feature to share a task with another person.

Now Alice shares a task with Bob.

What's the right preposition in the following expression?

The task has been shared by Alice with Bob ??? OpenTasks.

Or in short:

The task has been shared ??? OpenTasks.

I've tried "with" and "from" but neither of them sound quite right to me.

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  • shared tasks use 'and'
    – JMP
    Sep 13, 2017 at 8:18
  • Sorry, I don't understand. I need a preposition to express that I (or Alice) was using a specific application (called "OpenTasks") when I (or Alice) shared the task with Bob. How does 'and' fit in here?
    – Marten
    Sep 13, 2017 at 9:31
  • sharing involves equality, so i chose 'and' instead of 'with' which still gives Alice controlling rights over the task, and thus is not true 'sharing'. 'with' works however.
    – JMP
    Sep 13, 2017 at 9:35
  • The safest choice is using, by my lights, but with works, too.
    – user3395
    Sep 13, 2017 at 9:43
  • In this case "share" means the "sent to" feature found on mobile devices. So Alice and Bod don't have the same instance of the task, instead Bob gets a copy. Not sure if that still counts as "true sharing". It's "share" like in "sharing an information" not like in "sharing an object".
    – Marten
    Sep 13, 2017 at 10:05

3 Answers 3

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To complete this there are a few words you can use:

All of the following, and probably a few more, would work:

The task has been shared by Alice with Bob with OpenTasks.

The task has been shared by Alice with Bob using OpenTasks.

The task has been shared by Alice with Bob via OpenTasks.

The task has been shared by Alice with Bob through OpenTasks.

The same words will work in the second, shorter, form.

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Typically we share that which can be shared...

a sandwich

good news

a seat

and we share it with someone else.

The question is whether task is an appropriate object for the verb share. I'm not sure what it would mean to share a task with someone. Invite them to help you with it?

If we use some vehicle or device to share something with another person, the preposition would be through or by or over or via, depending on the vehicle.

I shared the news with her by phone.

They shared the news of the early dismissal over the intercom.

They shared the news of his departure through an inter-office mailing.

Marge shared the task with Homer via OpenTasks.

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  • ok, if it matters, we share a document/text describing the task rather than the task as such. I've considered "via" but it sounded more like a preposition for the transport mechanism, i.e. "shared via email/SMS/…"
    – Marten
    Sep 13, 2017 at 20:07
  • I'd say A task [something or other] is shared via OpenTasks. It is hard to know what name to give the something-or-other without first knowing what is supposed to be done with it by the recipient/person with whom it is shared. Nothing wrong with via to describe a conduit. But if OpenTasks also provides a collaboration workspace, then it is more than a conduit.
    – Tᴚoɯɐuo
    Sep 13, 2017 at 20:11
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In.

Things are done "inside" computer programs when you use their functions.

The task has been shared by Alice with Bob in OpenTasks.

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