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preposition

our life is beset ----- difficulties.(with/by)

Re: preposition

There is I don't know if I can call it a rule but maybe a guideline of how to use by and with inside passive sentences.

So when we're talking about something/someone that is doing the action we use by. However when we talk about a tool that is being used for an action we say with.

So for example:
He was struck by a baseball player.
- Because the baseball player is performing the action we introduce him with by.

He was struck with a baseball bat.
- Because someone is using that baseball bat as a tool, we introduce it with with.


So I recommend using by difficulties.