How to Use WITH BY English Prepositions Common Grammar Mistakes
Hey there, I’m Emma from mmmEnglish!
In this lesson, we’ll go over these two prepositions.
Now, if you’re a little confused by prepositions
that’s totally normal!
Wait a second, I could also say
If you’re feeling frustrated with prepositions
you’re definitely not alone.
It’s a little tricky, right?
Are both of those sentences right?
Does the meaning change?
So both of these sentences are perfectly fine
but let’s find out a little more about how to use
these little
but important English prepositions correctly.
Hold tight!
Prepositions are, well,
they’re just annoying little buggers!
They’re such tiny words,
yet they influence your sentence significantly.
When they’re used correctly,
they can make your English sound more advanced.
They can help you to sound more natural
and more fluent when you’re speaking
which of course, is exactly what you’re aiming for.
But, if they’re used incorrectly, well
these errors are quite obvious
to native English speakers.
And these mistakes, they actually reduce the quality
of your English.
And sometimes it can also mean that you’re
misunderstood - the meaning’s not clear.
So you probably know that there’s lots
of prepositions in English.
I could keep going but you get the point.
Actually when you get the chance, you can review
this playlist right here, it’s full of my lessons
about prepositions.
One problem that my students have with prepositions
from their own native language
is that they don’t translate perfectly into English
so they end up using the wrong preposition
and it becomes a bit of a habit, right?
Which is why it’s really important
to study and practise prepositions
in context, so using books,
blog posts and other texts.
They’re really great places to really try and understand
English prepositions and
see them, how they’re used naturally.
In this lesson, I’ll go over the prepositions ‘with’ and ‘by’.
So we’ll talk about the general rules
and the uses for each of those prepositions.
We’ll also talk about how both of them
could be used in the same sentence.
And later on, later in the lesson,
I’ll test you on what you’ve learnt so make sure you
stick around until the end of the lesson
so we can practise a little together, right?
Cool! So let’s start with
So, ‘with’ can actually mean
all of these different things as a preposition.
But let’s just start with the first one for now.
You can use ‘with’ when you’re talking about people,
or things being together.
So if you’re with someone,
then you’re probably in the same place as them.
This means
I was physically in the same place as Jane yesterday
while the accident was happening.
Now this could be people or objects,
so two objects or things that are with each other
are also together.
When I eat a burger
I put mustard on it and I eat the burger
and the mustard together, right?
So ‘with’ means physically in the same place.
There’s one exception though,
this is an informal usage but a very, very common one.
Two people that are together or with each other,
well this can actually mean that they’re in a
romantic relationship or they’re dating.
So Chris and Jane probably haven’t been
physically in the same location since last year,
but they have been together in a relationship.
Now this usage, it’s quite contextual,
you kind of need the other information in the sentence
to help you recognise the meaning.
So here’s a couple more examples.
So this is that informal use - talking about a relationship
and ‘boyfriend’ there is the clue that we’re talking about,
a romantic relationship.
Now here, this probably isn’t talking about
a romantic relationship because
we’re looking for Sammy,
we want to know where she is,
where she physically is right now. We’re asking
is she with you?
Okay? It’s not the romantic meaning.
‘With’ can also mean having something.
So you can use ‘with’ to show that something
or someone has something else.
So a person with tattoos is someone who has tattoos.
A dog with a red collar
is a dog who has a red collar.
Okay so ‘with’ can also mean to use something,
to make or to do something else.
So think about a time when you were doing an action
or you were making something
with the help of
a tool or an object or an ingredient.
It sounds a little confusing.
But let me think of a couple of examples
just to make it a bit easier to understand.
So she used the candles to make the table look nice.
Okay? She’s using them as a tool or as a material.
So he uses a pencil while he’s doing his homework.
So these three meanings that we’ve just been through,
they’re all quite similar
but small details in a sentence can help you
figure out the meaning of ‘with’ in that sentence.
So I want to give you a few examples to help you
compare these three different uses of ‘with’, okay?
So here I’m talking about using basil to cook.
It’s an important ingredient or tool, I guess,
that I use to make this specific recipe.
But I could also say in general
that I like pasta sauce with basil.
Okay? So I’m not making the pasta sauce here,
I’m not using basil.
I’m just speaking about how I like pasta
or pasta sauce that has basil in it,
that contains basil.
But if I went to a restaurant, the waitress might ask
So she’s asking if
if I want the pasta and the basil sauce together.
So if I say yes,
I’m going to get both of those things together
on my plate, right?
Does that make sense?
Okay so there are two more ways that you can use
the preposition ‘with’
though these ones are a little
less common than the last three.
But you can use ‘with’
to show the feeling behind an action.
So to say that you’re doing an action
with a certain feeling.
So the person who’s writing that message
they want to show or explain that they’re feeling sad
as they are doing the action of writing the message.
Okay?
So we can use ‘with’ to explain
how an action - the emotion behind an action.
Now lastly,
if someone is with you,
they agree with you, they’re on your side.
So imagine that everyone at work
is in the middle of a big discussion.
Everyone has different opinions, right?
But you agree with Matt, so you can say:
When you say that you are
letting everyone know that you
agree with Matt.
You have the same opinions as Matt, right?
Now we also talked about this same use
in this video.
This is the video about the prepositions, ‘for’ and ‘by’.
So you can use ‘for’ to express
a similar idea, to agree or support someone.
But ‘with’ is usually used to say that you
support a person and their opinion.
And ‘for’ is usually used to say that you support an idea.
So I would say:
We both agree in free healthcare for everyone.
Now compare that to
Okay? There’s a difference.
Now interestingly, this expression
‘to stand by someone’
has a very similar meaning, it’s a similar idea.
It’s really nice when someone stands by you, right?
But this is an important expression to keep in mind
because the meaning is very similar
to what we’ve just been talking about
but the preposition is different.
Right? So you just need to take a note of it.
Right, so we’ve been over
all of the uses of ‘with’ as a preposition.
But before we move on, I want you to
pause for a moment and write a few sentences
in the comments below
to practise using what you’ve learned just now, okay?
And I’ll try and check them and
make sure I give you some feedback,
make sure that you’re using them correctly.
Down there!
All right, let’s check out the preposition ‘by’ now.
Now it can be used to talk about general proximity.
So to show that someone is near
or close to something else.
And it usually means that
that thing is right beside it
or to the side of something else.
Where did you park the car?
Okay?
So that means I parked near the supermarket.
My car is really close to the supermarket.
It’s probably right next to it.
So this is easy enough, right?
Now
there’s a teeny weeny thing that you need
to remember here.
When ‘by’ is used with a verb that shows movement,
it describes the movement past
a person or a place or a thing.
So ‘by’ with a movement verb shows us
that something is moving past another thing.
So here, ‘walk’ is a verb that shows movement, right?
So I walked past your office,
I walked by your office.
Now we also use ‘by’ to set a time limit.
So when ‘by’ is used with time, it means
not later than a certain time.
I can leave before seven thirty,
or exactly at seven thirty
but I can’t leave later than seven thirty.
If I leave later,
well, I’ll be late for work.
Have your parents ever said that to you?
So in this lesson here, I actually go into more detail
about how we use ‘by’
to talk about time.
So if you want to go a little more deeper on that,
click this link here.
We can also use ‘by’ to show
who or what is doing something
when we’re using the passive voice.
So this is the passive voice.
In English, we use the passive voice or the active voice
for different reasons.
Actually I made a lesson on it a few months ago so it’s
right here if you are curious about the passive voice.
So this is the passive voice.
The active voice is
So in the first example I’m using the passive voice
to show that the emphasis is on the action,
not the person.
The action is the most important thing in the sentence.
And we use ‘by’ to know who or what
is doing the action, if it’s important.
Now when you want to
explain how an action will be done,
you can also use ‘by’.
So you’re saying what is your
method for arriving somewhere.
Or getting something done
or doing something.
What is the way that you’re going to do it?
In all of those different situations, you can use
‘by’ to explain how.
Okay? So bike was the method
that I used to get to work.
Another one.
Okay these are the methods to achieve the outcome.
All right, last one
and then we’ll practise together, I promise.
We can use ‘by’ with a reflexive pronoun
to say that you’ll do something alone.
Okay or a person is doing something alone.
Now all personal pronouns have a reflexive
form in English, right?
So we have
Right? There’s quite a few of them.
But you can use ‘by’ with a reflexive pronoun
to talk about doing something alone
or without any help from anyone else.
So you would say ‘by myself’
That kind of thing.
So that just means
that I don’t need you, I can clean up on my own.
Speaking of reflexive pronouns,
let’s go back to the preposition ‘with’ for a moment
because ‘with’ can also be used with a reflexive pronoun
So remember that ‘with’
and a person
means together, right?
So ‘with’ and a reflexive pronoun, it’s kind of like
saying together with oneself, right?
So he was talking to himself, probably just
inside his head, right?
You don’t have to speak out loud to have
a conversation with yourself, right?
Cool, so let’s look at a few situations
where both ‘with’ and ‘by’ can be used correctly
but of course,
it means the meaning changes
and this is where it can get a little confusing, all right?
I want you to take your time here.
So I want you to think about
what’s the difference in the meaning here.
Why have we used each of these prepositions
and what do they mean in each of these sentences?
I want you to pause the video for a moment
and write your answer in the comments.
Okay so the first sentence.
It uses ‘by’ to show who was doing the action,
who filmed the movie. It was Jerry.
But in the second sentence, ‘with’ tells us
what was used to do the filming
so what kind of equipment was used.
Well it was an underwater camera, right?
Let’s try another one.
So pause the video, think about the difference.
Try and explain it in the answers.
And I’ll be down there to check soon.
So I hope that you paused and you wrote your answer
because I’m about to tell you it anyway.
So in the first sentence, ‘with’ shows togetherness.
The lady and the dog are together, it’s probably her dog.
But in the second sentence,
‘by’ tells us the location of the lady. She’s near the dog.
It could be her dog but
maybe not, we don’t really know.
Now that you know the rules about these prepositions,
you’ll be able to read through a few
pages of your favourite English book
and start to recognise these different uses.
Actually, that’s a really great way to help you
remember what you learned in this lesson, to actually
start practising,
looking for these prepositions
and trying to understand them.
Now before you go, I’ve got a few last sentences
to practise with you, okay?
I’m going to give you some sentences
and see if you can choose the correct preposition
to go in the blank space, right?
So I want you to write your answers in the comments
below. I’m going to be down there checking them
straight away after this lesson’s live.
And I don’t want you to write
just the answer, I want you to tell me why
you’ve chosen that preposition.
What’s the meaning behind it, right?
Here we go!
Is it ‘by’ or ‘with’?
It’s ‘by’ right? Because we’ve got
a reflexive pronoun here
to talk about doing something alone.
Right? Okay now it’s your turn.
What’s the preposition?
Right?
Here’s another one.
So that’s together, right?
Fries and your burger together.
Now it is possible to say
‘Would you like to order any fries by your burger?’
Sounds a bit weird though. That just means
on the plate, so next to the burger on your plate.
So it’s a way less common way of saying that.
It’s not completely incorrect but it
certainly doesn’t sound right.
So ‘with’ is the correct option there.
How about this one?
Right?
So here, ‘by’ is telling us that
it’s the method that something is done, right?
This one?
We’re using ‘with’ here to say that she has something.
Something. She has thirteen children.
Can you imagine that?
It would be chaos!
Absolute chaos!
Okay, how about this one? We’ve got two.
Is it ‘with’ or ‘by’? Where does it go?
Correct.
Together with their parents.
And
So next to the river.
Last one.
So it’s
so we’re together and
so that’s the method of getting to work.
So how did you go?
I hope that you enjoyed that lesson
especially the practice section at the end
because you need to make sure that you’re
using the lessons that you learn here at mmmEnglish.
Like I said,
practise while you read, just grab your favourite book,
English book, or find an article online even,
but then underline every ‘with’ and ‘by’ on the page.
These words are so common, I’m sure you’ll find
plenty of them.
But what I want you to do is to then
be curious and try to understand or try to work out
why these different prepositions were used.
It will really help your brain to remember this lesson.
Now I would love to keep teaching you
more about prepositions right here.
Or we can switch things up a little bit and maybe
try this lesson instead.
But don’t forget to subscribe and show your support
for the mmmEnglish channel
and I will see you
in one of these lessons.
See you there!