UNIT 127 By

We use by in a number of different ways:

A. We use by. in many expressions to say bow we do something. For example, you can:

send something by post, do something by hand, pay by cheque/by credit card (but pay in cash)

or something can happen by mistake/by accident/by chance (but do something on purpose):

* Did you pay by cheque or in cash?

* We hadn't arranged to meet. We met by chance.

In these expressions we use by + noun without 'a' or 'the'. We say by chance/by cheque etc. (not 'by a chance/by a cheque').

B. In the same way we use by. to say how somebody travels:

by car/by train/by plane/by boat/by ship/by bus/by bicycle etc.

and by road/by rail/by air/by sea/by underground

* Liz usually goes to work by bus.

* Do you prefer to travel by air or by train?

But we say 'on foot':

* Did you come here by car or on foot?

You cannot use by if you say 'my car'/'the train' 'a taxi' etc. We use by + noun without,a/the/my' etc. We say:

by car but in my car (not 'by my car')

by train but on the train (not 'by the train')

We use in for cars and taxis:

* They didn't come in their car. They came in a taxi.

We use on for bicycles and public transport (buses, trains etc.):

* We travelled on the 6.45 train.

C. We say 'something is done by somebody/something' (passive-see Units 41-43):

* Have you ever been bitten by a dog?

* The programme was watched by millions of people.

Compare by and with:

* The door must have been opened with a key. (not 'by a key') (= somebody used a key to open it)

* The door must have been opened by somebody with a key.

We say 'a play by Shakespeare', 'a painting by Rembrandt', 'a novel by Tolstoy' etc.

* Have you read any books by Agatha Christie?

D. By also means next to/beside:

* Come and sit by me. (= beside me)

* 'Where's the light switch?' 'By the door.'

E. Note the following use of by...:

* Clare's salary has just gone up from 1,000 pounds a month to 1,100 pounds. So it has increased by 100 pounds/by ten per cent.

* John and Roger had a race over 100 metres. Roger won by about five metres.