a watermelon is most welcome by/for girls

[arueng]

Watermelon Festival
It’s been here as long as love itself has been on earth. On that day, girls’ dormitory is open. A boy must carry a big watermelon and present it to the girl he has a crush on.
Why a watermelon rather than a rose? It’s so unromantic, right? Well, a watermelon is most welcome by/for girls to quench their parching thirst in summer. Besides, the red meat is a token of blazing love. And the green skin is connected with a green hand at love. What about the myriad undesirable black seeds? It’s the most mysterious symbol, numerous descendants resulted from their love.


Hi,
I wrote the above on my blog to practice writing. Should i use by or for to fit in the context? Thanks.

 

[owlman5]

Of the two prepositions you offer, "by" makes sense. I suggest you turn the sentence around into the active voice. If you do this, you won't even need the preposition: Well, girls like/love watermelon to quench their thirst in summer.

 

[arueng]

Of the two prepositions you offer, "by" makes sense. I suggest you turn the sentence around into the active voice. If you do this, you won't even need the preposition: Well, girls like/love watermelon to quench their thirst in summer.

Thanks, Mr Owl, for the suggestion.

Is there a better preposition than "by" in that context? Thanks.

 

[owlman5]

No. I think "by" is your best bet. This is passive language, and when we express the agent in the passive, we use "by": The book was read by all the students.

So I see two possible versions of your statement, each using "welcome" in a different way:
1) "Welcome" is the adjective: a watermelon is most welcome to girls to...
2) "Welcomed" is a past participle of the verb "to welcome": a watermelon is most welcomed by girls to...

 

[arueng]

No. I think "by" is your best bet. This is passive language, and when we express the agent in the passive, we use "by": The book was read by all the students.

So I see two possible versions of your statement, each using "welcome" in a different way:
1) "Welcome" is the adjective: a watermelon is most welcome to girls to...
2) "Welcomed" is a past participle of the verb "to welcome": a watermelon is most welcomed by girls to...

Thanks for the two nice editions, Mr Owl.

Wish you well!