Please help me with discussion with teacher
Hello everyone! My English teacher gave me a little grammar test today. I had a sentense with the empty space for preposition.
Here's the sencence: "To use online banking services you need a computer ... the Internet".
I chose "in" preposition, because the Internet is the network, so to access this network you need a computer in this network, so you need a computer in Internet(connected to this network). But my teacher said I'm wrong and I should use here "with" preposition.
So we have a little discussion and I hope you will help me to find the correct answer

Question

Please help me with discussion with teacher
Hello everyone! My English teacher gave me a little grammar test today. I had a sentense with the empty space for preposition.
Here's the sencence: "To use online banking services you need a computer   ...   the Internet".
I chose "in" preposition, because the Internet is the network, so to access this network you need a computer in this network, so you need a computer in Internet(connected to this network). But my teacher said I'm wrong and I should use here "with" preposition. 
So we have a little discussion and I hope you will help me to find the correct answer

Answer

Assuming that the final word in the question is "internet" (and not "Interner"), "with" doesn't work with *the* Internet either. We would say" "To use online banking services you need a computer with internet (access)."

I wonder if your teacher is a native English speaker, because saying "...with the Internet" is rather stilted English.

Answer

I'm afraid your teacher is right. Just try to change the sentence and imagine that you need a pc but you don't need the internet. How would you say that with a preposition? I believe you would say "I need a pc without the internet "

Don't you agree?

Answer

I tend to agree with torusan.  "With" or "without" the internet sounds awkward, as if the internet vanished into a parallel universe.  In modern, technological societies, all devices have access to the internet.  But, to use the aformentioned banking services you need a computer 'with' internet access.  Period!

Answer

Usually we say people are "on" the internet but when we are talking about the computer itself, we say "computer with internet" or "a computer connected to the internet." I can see why this is confusing. There is no real good reason why we do it this way. Keep up the good work!

Answer

With is correct because you are combining two things.  It's not how one thing interacts with another thing it's what two things are needed together to have a result or understanding.

Answers · 8

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