Prepositions: 16 ways to use ‘by’ in English

WATCH NEXT:

TRANSCRIPT

Hi, everyone. In this lesson we're looking at how to use the preposition "by". "By" is such a common word; we use it all the time, but because of that, it can be confusing. "Am I using the right preposition?" So, in this lesson I'm going to go over lots of examples of when you should use "by", give you the rules of grammar; and also towards the end of the lesson, teach you new uses of "by" that you might not know yet because they're advanced.

Okay, let's start with communication. Here's an example sentence: "You can enter the competition by text message, by post, by letter, or by email." These days it's not so common to enter a competition by post, but when I was younger watching children's television, that was often one of the main ways to enter the competition.

Okay, moving on to transport now. "P" stands for "preposition". This shows us that in this example of grammar, "by" is being used as a preposition. "She's coming to London by car, by plane, by taxi, or by train." When we're talking about transport, the mode of transport, how we go somewhere - we use "by" as the preposition.

Three: Error. "Error" means this is wrong; a mistake. "I'm sorry. I did it by mistake.", "I did it by accident. Oops. I did it by accident. I'm sorry." These are the only two examples you need to remember for error.

Next one is luck. "We met each other by chance." I didn't plan to meet you today. I'm walking down the street: "Oh, there you are!" In that situation, I met you by chance. This means same thing as "by coincidence". "We met each other by coincidence." Also similar to the meaning of "fate". This was meant to be, in a way. You walk down the... well, not... coincidence... when people talk about coincidence, they mean: "This is just random it... this happened", whereas if they talk about fate, it's like: "It was planned to be by the gods" or something like that.

Next use of "by" is for next to. And when we use "by" in these sentences, we mean: "This thing is positioned next to the other thing." Used as a preposition: "The cat is by the window." Here's the cat-"meow"-here's the window. The cat is by the window. Another example: "Your boots are by the stairs." Here are the stairs going up, here are your boots. "Your boots are by the stairs." And lastly, here: "My keys are by the door. My keys are by the door." More examples coming up.

Next we have using "by" when we want to say who did something. These example sentences, here, are all examples of the passive voice. That's a grammar term. If after I've explained this, you want to know more, pause the video and go and... go and check out Adam's lesson on this. Let's look at these sentences: "'Sunflowers' was painted by Van Gogh". "Sunflowers" is a painting. Van Gogh, the artist, painted it. We can take this sentence, and swap it, and say: "Van Gogh painted 'Sunflowers'." But in this sentence, which is the passive voice, the thing that comes first in the sentence is the obje-... Is the object. "Sunflowers", the painting comes first, rather than the artist. And the reason we do passive voice sentences is because this is more formal writing, or we might see it written in an essay or something like that.

Next example is: "I was invited by Mr. Smith." Mr... I'll change it around: "Mr. Smith invited me" would be the other way to say this. Next example: "My computer was repaired by the IT Department." I can change that one around and say: "The IT Department repaired my computer." So, in all of these sentences, to form the passive voice we use the preposition "by" in the example sentences.

Next let's look at using "by" as a preposition when we're talking about how to pay for something. We can say: "by cash, by credit card, by PayPal". "You can pay for your computer by cash or by credit card in this store."

Next... next we have how something is sold. Let's look at the examples. So, did you know that in England: "Eggs are sold by the dozen"? You get 12. A "dozen" means 12 eggs. "By the dozen". Fabric - material that's in our... makes our clothes and furniture, like sofas: "Fabric is sold by the metre." You go in the shop, and the fabric is all on those rolls, and they say: "How many metres do you want?" Fabric is sold by the metre. […]

[ronle]

Excellent teaching video!
Thanks teacher!

[王凌锋-yy]

I‘m so happy that your channel is updated

[Mascarlospinguenos]

I've watched for several times of your video teaching of English, I like them very much. Thanks Ms Jodle.

[kenedypires]

Jade, you’re my favourite YouTube teacher. Thanks for all your videos and the way you teach. I’m from Manaus, Brazil.

[ismailadam]

I really like your accent and I enjoyed watching your videos it helps me to improve my English thank you.

[magdalenawlizo]

I really enjoyed watching it! Great examples and everything written down below. 👍

[AmitSingh-fjrg]

You r ultimate teacher...in the world.

[jaescalantel]

I found your lessons a couple of years ago BY chance and always I always give you thumbs up BY the high quality of your work .

[italopozzuoli]

I‘ve founded this lesson so much useful, thank.

[emiliovh]

Thank so much Jade. Useful and great lesson

[ibrahimabah]

great lesson thank you so much teacher.

[juandepazsanchez]

Thanks a lot Jade. Your English is really catchy and the explanations are all clear. It's a master class. Regards from Canary Islands.

[yeimijuarez]

despite of my pronunciation is not very well, when i watch your videos I try to understand your intonation and every day I understand more percentage of the lesson. tnks for sharing your videos and your time for non english speakers

[TheBobby]

I love your accent... By the way very useful lesson thanks a lot. Lots of love x

[claudiomuccifuora]

Excellent teacher. Thank you for your great lesson.

[amitchakraborty]

I LIKE YOUR LESSON AND YOUR ACCENTS. PLEASE MAKE MORE VIDEO

[alemutesema]

Thank you Teacher very helpful lesson I am waiting for the next lesson 😆

[edmundomartinez]

Hi Jade, first of all, a huge thank you for your videos and classes. I started from scratch learning English improving a lot following your classes and videos, all of them very professional, useful and easy to understand, very pedagogical!.
Your help please on this question related with the preposition By and its proximity use, it is equivalent to say. "I parked the car by the supermarket" and ”I parked the car at the supermarket”?, thanks in advance. 👍😊

[andresf]

First of all, thanks Jade. Additionally, I suggest you to explore more general rules for the use of "by" for a future video. This because some of the uses are very similar to one another. Consider, for example, the use in payment and communication. Both of them hints towards the means used to achieve something. The same happens with "error" and "chance". That is, both of them refer to something unexpected.

[sanjaykumaryadav]

Please make videos on uses of "To" . this video has been very helpful. I learnt a lot from this lesson. I am from India and learning english . thank you.