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I've come across a question while writing an exam
Roger really excelled ___ sports
A) at
B) on
C) in
D) for
My first thought was 'in', later I remembered using 'at' also. I've searched for this in a few forums, there they say both 'excel in' and 'excel at' are correct expressions and could not really make out any differences.
Now my problem is that I'm an ESL and the above question doesn't give options like 'both a and c correct'. I'm not sure what option to pick for these kind of questions.
So, what is the correct option for above question?. Answers from experts are much appreciated. If both are correct what is the intention of question paper setter?
5 Answers
While 'excel at' and 'excel in' are generally interchangeable, I do think there is a subtle distinction.
excel at seems to apply better to specific activities.
He excels at service returns in badminton.
excel in seems to apply better to more general categories or things that cover many activities.
She excels in school.
To me, 'She excels at school' sounds thoroughly ungrammatical and would not be uttered by a native speaker. 'He excels in service returns in badminton' also sounds a little bit strange but other native speakers than me might use it.
I believe the intended correct answer is 'in'. You are good 'at' something, but you excel 'in' a sport or an activity.
Possibly it is also acceptable to say that someone excels 'at' something, but 'in' should be more correct. As in:
Little Johnny excels in debate class. He also excels in sports and in many other activities.
Note that in the above example it might sound OK to say 'excels at sports' or 'excels at many other activities'-- but 'excels at debate class' is clearly wrong.
So I would argue that in is the true, correct preposition to be used with 'excel', and at is a late-comer that has slipped into usage because it is applicable to many (but not all) of the things that one can excel in and therefore sounds OK when used in those phrases.
Update
Merriam Webster online (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/excel) gives examples of usage with both at and in:
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excel in sports
excelled at lipreading
As they use 'in' in the phrase with 'sports', I maintain my position that in is more correct, at least in this specific case.
In Britain 'excel at' and 'excel in' are to all intents interchangeable. I cannot think of any example of one where you couldn't with equal justification also use the other. Can anyone?
Responder's own edit: see @ virmajor reply. They may be on to something here.
WS2WS2
We use AT when we speak about sports, activities: excel at football.
And we use IN when we speak about academic subjects: excel in maths.
I agree with the notion that 'at' sounds better for a specific activity or task while 'in' sounds better for a general category. That said, in my humble opinion - English is not my mother tongue - I think there is also a subtle nuance in the intended usage of 'at' or 'in'. When you hear someone say 'she excels at school' and you find it alright, maybe you are thinking that that 'at' does not denote 'school' as a learning subject, but is a preposition of location. In that case, the sentence can be paraphrased 'at school, she excels (in many things)'.
protected by user140086 Jun 20 '16 at 12:26
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