prep[
Language: Old English;]
used to show what a part belongs to or comes from
the back of the house the last scene of the movie the end of the dayused to show who something or someone belongs to or has a connection with
a friend of Mark's Avocado salad is a favourite of mine. Product inspection is the responsibility of the employees themselves.used when talking about a feature or quality that something has
the cost of the meal the beauty of the scenery the length of the swimming-poolused to show what group one or more things or people belong to
some of the students 'Sunflowers' is one of his best-known paintings. Two of the guests are vegetarian. a member of the baseball teamused to show what type of substance or thing you are referring to, when talking about an amount
two kilos of sugar millions of dollars a bar of chocolateused to say what something contains
a cup of coffee several packets of cigarettes truckloads of refugeesused to say what type of things or people are in a group
a herd of elephants his circle of friends a bunch of bananasa) used to state specifically which thing of the general type mentioned you are referring to
the city of New York the art of painting the problem of unemploymentb) used to state specifically what a particular number, amount, age etc is
at the age of 52 an increase of 3%used to talk about things produced by a famous or skilled writer, artist etc
the plays of Shakespeare the paintings of Picasso the work of a great architectused to say what a story, some news etc is about, or what a picture, map etc shows
a story of love and loss news of his arrest a photo of Elizabeth a map of Indonesiaa) used after nouns that refer to actions, or to people who do something, in order to show who or what the action is done to
the cancellation of the meeting the killing of innocent children supporters of the projectb) used after nouns that refer to actions in order to show who or what does the action
the ringing of the phone the arrival of a visitorused after some adjectives that describe feelings, to show who or what the feeling is directed towards
He's always been frightened of spiders. Most children want their parents to feel proud of them.used when referring to the day, moment etc when something happened
the day of the accident the week of the festival I was at home at the time of the murder.used to say where something is in relation to a place or thing
north/south etc of sth a historic seaside town 99 km south of Londonto the left/right of sth To the left of the sofa is a table. I live within a mile of here.used to describe a person or thing by saying what their main qualities or features are
Albright was seen as a woman of great determination. It's an area of considerable historical interest.used to say what someone's age is
He has two children, a boy of twelve and a girl of fifteen.it is kind/stupid/careless etc of sb (to do sth)used to say that someone's action shows a particular quality
It was kind of you to remember my birthday.used to say where someone comes from
the people of China Jesus of Nazarethused to show the country, organization, or group in which someone has a particular position
King Philip II of Spain the secretary of the tennis clubused in dates before the name of the month
the 27th of Julyused to say when something happened
the presidential election of 1825 one of the biggest upsets of recent yearsAmE spoken used in giving the time, to mean 'before'
British Equivalent:
to It's a quarter of seven (=6.45) .used to show the cause of someone's death
He died of cancer.literary used to say what material has been used to make something
a dress of pure silkof an evening/of a weekend etcBrE in the evenings, at
weekends etc
We often used to walk by the river of an evening.
GRAMMARTo refer to someone or something that belongs to or is connected with someone, it is usual to use
-'s or
-s' (NOT of) with short noun phrases :
Dad's car (NOT the car of Dad) |
a child's bike (NOT the bike of a child) |
my sister's boyfriend (NOT the boyfriend of my sister) |
the miners' strike (NOT the strike of the miners)When referring to one of several people or things belonging to or connected with someone, or when using 'this' or 'that', use
of + mine/yours/his/hers/ours/theirs :
a friend of mine (NOT a friend of me) |
a relation of ours (NOT a relation of us) |
that car of yours (NOT that car of you)To talk about the person who sang, wrote, painted, or composed a particular work, use
by not
of :
a song by Mariah Carey (NOT of Mariah Carey)