English Preposition Lesson: Using OF

A happy bottle of wine!

A happy bottle of wine!

Yesterday we looked at the preposition around. For today’s English lesson, I want to show you how to use the preposition of. There are a number of grammar patterns that we have when we use of, so let’s get started!

#1. We use of when we want to show the connection or relationship between two nouns:

  • Jack is a friend of mine.
  • I saw a picture of Times Square in an old textbook.
  • The day of your birth is called your birthday.

#2. We use of when we want to talk about an artist or musician and their collective work:

  • You can see the complete works of Picasso at MOMA this month.
  • I love the paintings of Salvador Dali.
  • This CD set contains the complete works of Mozart.

#3. We also use of when we want to show the connection between one part and an entire thing:

  • I had a slice of pizza for lunch.
  • Do you want a piece of cake?
  • Jack used the last slice of bread.

#4. In a similar way, we use of when we use quantifiers, such as containers or groups of food:

  • We bought a bottle of wine for the party.
  • Jack drinks a liter of milk every day.
  • The supermarket has a bunch of grapes for just $0.69!

#5. We use of when we talk about measurement:

  • This handle can extend to a length of 30 inches.
  • The recipe calls for one cup of sugar and two cups of cocoa.
  • I think two pounds of pork should be enough.

#6. We use of to talk about directions or locations near a certain point or place:

  • There is a big drawer at the bottom of the oven.
  • You can find many old buildings on the lower east side of Manhattan.
  • The entrance to this building is on 40th Street, just to the left of the bank.

#7 We use type of / kind of / sort of + noun to describe a category:

  • A smartphone is a type of computer.
  • Japanese nabe is a kind of soup.
  • Pink Floyd plays sort of experimental music.

#8. We use made of / built of, etc to show the type of material used in making something:

  • This building is built of iron and steel.
  • Many items we have at home are made of plastic.

There are a lot more combinations of verbs + of, including phrasal verbs, in English. Do you know any others? If you do, let me know. In the meantime, how about trying to use some of these patterns? Write a sentence or two in the comment box below!



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English Preposition Lesson: Using Around

I walked around the Library

I walked around the Library

Today I am going to show you how we use around, which is both adverb and a preposition. I am sure you will find learning this English Grammar helpful, especially if you are preparing for the TOEIC or TOEFL exam.

We use around to mean approximately:

  • There are around thirty English Language schools in New York City.
  • Jack is tall. He’s around 190cm.

We use around to mean near:

  • There are a lot of restaurants around my office.
  • You can see many interesting people around Times Square.

We use around with the meaning of encircle or surround something:

  • The hotel is build around a swimming pool.
  • We sat around the table during the meeting.

We use around with the meaning of moving in a circle or toward the other side of (like a corner):

  • The man walked around the corner.
  • The kids ran around the tree.

We use around to talk about moving to many different places in one area of a city, office, shop, etc:

  • We walked around Chinatown for three hours on Saturday.
  • Let’s look around the museum.

We use turn around to talk about changing the direction or movement in an opposite direction:

  • The road was closed so I had to turn the car around and go a different way.
  • Everyone turned around when we heard the loud noise in the office.

We use be around to mean exist in a location:

  • I’ll be around until 3:00, then I have to leave the office.
  • That café has been around since 1970.

I think I’ve covered most of the common ways to use around. If you know another way to use around, let me know. In the meantime, how about trying to use some of these patterns? Write a sentence or two in the comment box below!



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English Preposition Lesson: Made by, Made with, & Made of

Do you like noodles? In many cultures around the world, noodles are a basic ingredient in many dishes. And no matter what kind of noodle dish you like, noodles always taste better when they are made by hand. Most noodles are made with wheat or some other kind of grain flour, and I think it is better to eat noodles from a dish that was made of ceramics.

Today, let’s look at the various prepositions used with the word made. This lessongraphic has all of the details and some examples:

happy-english-made-with-made-by-made-of



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English Grammar Lesson: All Some Most Vs All Of Some Of Most Of

I cooked all of the food!

I cooked all of the food!

Hi everyone! I want to start today’s English Lesson with a question. Can you find the problem with this sentence?

  • Most of Americans like pizza.

Did you find it? Well, if not, don’t worry. You’re not alone. A lot of people get confused when they try to use words like all, some, most, many, little, & few. Today I am going to teach you how to use these words.

You can use all, some, most, many, little, & few + noun. The noun should be a plural countable noun or an uncountable noun. Of course, we use many and few only with a countable noun and little only with an uncountable noun:

  • All whales live in the sea.
  • Some people like to play sports.
  • Most cars run on gasoline.
  • These days many factories are trying to operate cleanly.
  • Very few people are skilled enough to win a chess game against a computer.　

You can use all of, some of, most of, many of, little of, & few of  + [determiner] + noun. The determiner is usually an article (a, an, or the) or a pronoun. You CAN’T USE all of, some of, most of, many of, little of, & few of + noun WITHOUT a determiner. This is where a lot of people make a mistake, so please be careful:

  • All of my friends like pizza. Not, All of friends~
  • Some of the people in my office like to play sports. Not, Some of people~
  • Most of those cars are for sale. Not, Most of cars~
  • These days many of the factories in Brooklyn have become apartment buildings.
  • Very few of the people in my office can speak three languages.　

So please try to remember these two patterns:

  1. All, some, most, many, little, & few + noun: All basketballs are round.
  2. All of, some of, most of, many of, little of, & few of  + [determiner] + noun: All of the basketballs in this store are on sale.

Now it’s your turn to try. How about trying to write an original sentence using with and one of the patterns I just explained above. Use the comment box below!



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