With regard/regards to?

[irmamar]

...decisions with regard / regards (to?) their international recognition.

Are regard and regards interchangeable? Is "to" needed in this sentence?

Thanks.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

...decisions with regard / regards (to?) their international recognition.

Are regard and regards interchangeable? Is "to" needed in this sentence?

Thanks.

Yes, they are interchangeable, and the 'to' is absolutely essential.

You could also say 'regarding their international recognition...' but this would have to start the clause.

[irmamar]

So, I couldn't say:

...decisions regarding their international recognition.

Thank you.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

So, I couldn't say:

...decisions regarding their international recognition.

Thank you.

Well, perhaps you could, but I don't think it is very good. I would say

....decisions relating to their..
....decisions connected with their...

Perhaps it is just taste

[pjt33]

Originally Posted by Perikles

Perhaps it is just taste

I think so: "decisions regarding their recognition" sounds fine to me.

[ROBINDESBOIS]

Only with regard to, never with regards to, regards in the plural is saludos.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Originally Posted by ROBINDESBOIS

Only with regard to, never with regards to, regards in the plural is saludos.

That is not what a native English speaker said:

Originally Posted by Perikles

Yes, they are interchangeable, and the 'to' is absolutely essential.

You could also say 'regarding their international recognition...' but this would have to start the clause.

[Rusty]

According to a few places I checked, 'with regards to' is substandard usage. 'With regard to' is the proper phrase. 'As regards' means the same thing as 'with regard to', and 'with regards to' could simply be a mixing of the two phrases.

'Regarding' and 'concerning' are also widely accepted alternatives.

http://www.englishforums.com/English...cxdxc/post.htm
http://www.vocaboly.com/forums/ftopic379.html
http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic2044.html

[ROBINDESBOIS]

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

That is not what a native English speaker said:

But that´s what an expert said in a book, sometimes native speakers are wrong like you and me in Spanish.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

...decisions with regard / regards (to?) their international recognition.

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

That is not what a native English speaker said:

That's because the native speaker actually misread the original question and wasn't thinking clearly. (I didn't take the 'with' as part of the second option, but got it wrong anyway)

[poli]

How about in regard to and
in regards to?
I certainly use this more that with regard to. I believe in regard and in regards are are interchangable like towards and toward. I prefer in regard to in regards, but I think they are both OK.