by
part of speech
preposition; adverb (go by, put by, stop by)
meaning for a pupil
1) By shows who does something: a book by Roald Dahl. tree →
2) By shows how something is done: by bus, by hand. tree →
3) By means next to: sit by the window. tree →
4) By means not later than: be home by six. tree →
5) In maths, by names the number you multiply or divide by, or how much something changes: grew by 3; a room 4 by 5 metres. tree →
6) As an adverb, by means past: the cars went by. tree →
7) (casual) «Stop by», «drop by», «pop by» mean visit for a short time; «by the way» or «btw» adds a new point. tree →
8) (formal) The exam voice uses «by» in stiff phrases: «by means of», «by virtue of», «increased by a factor of», «by the conclusion of». tree →
9) By design means on purpose, planned in advance. tree →
sense in the lessons
«multiply … by», «divide … by» (6 divided by 2 = 3); «a room 4 by 5 metres» (sides); «increase by 3» (add 3), «decrease by 3» (subtract 3); also «by Tom» for who did it; in everyday life «by the way», «by myself» (alone), «one by one», «by heart», «by mistake»; in texts «btw»; in the exam voice «by means of», «increased by a factor of 2» (multiplied by 2), «by the conclusion of the week»
examples
- When there are several equal groups, we multiply the number of groups by the size of one group. tree →
- Divide 20 by 4. tree →
- The cake was cut by Dad into 8 pieces. tree →
- We go to school by bus. tree →
- The plant grew by 3 centimetres this week. tree →
- Please hand in your homework by Friday. tree →
- She sat by the fire to get warm. tree →
- I learned the poem by heart. tree →
- The children came in one by one. tree →
- btw nan's stopping by at 5, set another plate tree →
- Sorry, I took your pen by mistake. tree →
- The quantity is subsequently increased by a factor of 3; determine the resulting value. tree →
- "No, sir, by design," returned Aladdin. tree →
note
«multiply A by B» = A × B; «divide A by B» = A ÷ B. Trap: «more by 3», «grew by 3» or «increased by 3» means add 3, not multiply; «increased by a factor of 3» means multiply by 3. «4 by 5 metres» names two sides; the area is 4 × 5. «by Friday» is a deadline, not a number. Do not mix «by» with «buy» (pay for) and «bye» (goodbye).
In the corpora
- Burnout means being worn down by too much work and stress for too long, until even small tasks feel huge.
- Benefits are paid for by everyone's taxes as a safety net, and many families who work get some help too.
- An inheritance is money or belongings left by someone who has died, as written in their will.
- Cashback at a shop means taking your own money out as cash while paying by card; it is not a gift.
- By the end of the call there is a plan, and he says, "Right.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «by» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.