Confusing English Grammar: “BY” or “WITH”?

Hello, my name is Emma, and today we are going to learn about two really important prepositions.

We're going to learn about the word "by" and the word "with".

Many learners confuse these two words, but they're very important in English.

We use them all the time.

So today I'm going to tell you what are the differences between "by" and "with", and when

do we use them?

So let's first start with the word "by", B-Y.

So we use it in different situations.

The first one I'm going to talk about is when we use it with time.

When we're talking about time, we can use "by" with the time.

So for example, "Arrive by 4pm."

So what does this mean if you see "by" here?

What that means is you want to arrive before or at 4pm, not after.

So no later than 4pm.

So we use this a lot.

Somebody might say, "I'll arrive by 6pm."

This means they're going to get there before 6pm or right at 6pm.

Here's another example.

"I will be there 7pm."

So we can write in the word "by".

"I will be there by 7pm."

So 7pm is the latest; I might be a little bit earlier.

Here's another example.

Imagine you're at work.

You are going to send an email to somebody.

You can say, "I will send you the email by 6pm."

This means the person will get the email at 6pm or before 6pm.

So again, we use "by" with time very frequently to mean before or at a certain time.

Let's look at some other ways we use the word "by".

So "by" can also be used to answer the question of who.

Who did something?

So let me show you.

Romeo and Juliet is a very famous play or story.

Who wrote it?

Romeo and Juliet was written by Shakespeare.

So in this, we want to know who did it; Shakespeare did it, so we can write "by".

You'll notice "by" is often used with what we call the passive voice or the passive tense.

So that is where we have the "be" verb, and then we have our main verb, like "written".

We have many videos, actually, on the passive tense if you don't know it, but the main point

here is that when you're using the passive voice or the passive tense, we often use "by",

and "by" is used to say who did something.

Let's look at another example.

Imagine somebody says, "Who built the pyramids?"

The pyramids were built by the Egyptians, not aliens, as some people might think.

So the pyramids were built by the ancient Egyptians.

Okay, here's another question.

So again, we want to know who.

Who ate the cake?

The cake was eaten by the dog.

So again, this is where the answer to who is.

Who did it?

The dog.

Who did it?

The Egyptians.

Who did it?

Shakespeare.

So I want you to try to do the next one.

What's the name of the latest song, Taylor Swift?

What do you think goes here?

Okay, if you said "by", you're correct.

So we use "by" when we're saying who did something.

It answers this question.

The album was by the Beatles.

The song was by Taylor Swift.

The painting was by Picasso.

Another important way we use the word "by" is we use it to talk about methods.

How are we doing something?

So I'll give you some examples of this.

We can use it with nouns, especially when we're talking about transportation.

So the method of how you're going somewhere.

For example, I'm going to Japan by train.

Or I'm going to Australia by plane.

I am going home by foot.

So you can use...

When you're talking about transportation, you can use "by" and then the mode of transportation.

We also use "by" a lot when we're talking about communication, the method of communication.

So, we use it a lot with the word "email".

By email, by phone, by chat.

So when you're talking about communication and ways to communicate, you might use "by".

Here's an example.

I'll send it - how? - by email.

I mentioned transportation.

Here's an example for transportation.

How did you go to school?

I went to school by bus every day.

Okay, so again, "by" in this case is answering "how", specifically the method.

What's the method?

We can also use "by" with a verb if it has "ing" on it.

So, I'll give you a great example that you might want to use.

"By", we have our verb "learn", and then we have "ing".

By learning English, you can have more opportunity.

So that's an example.

We can use "by" in other examples, too.

So, any time you're thinking about a process, for example, maybe by exercising more, you

can stay healthier.

By getting more sleep, you can have an easier work day.

So we often use "by" to talk about processes or methods, and again, if you use it with

a verb, make sure that the verb ends in "ing".

Okay, so we've talked about ways we use "by", and we'll come back to this in a moment, but

now let's look at "with".

We use "with" in different ways.

One of the ways we use "with" is to talk about accompaniment.

So what do I mean by that?

I mean together.

Who is together?

I have a picture.

Imagine this is you.

These are the people.

When you're together, we can say you are with these people.

That's what I mean by accompaniment.

It's who is together.

So here's an example.

Imagine you want to talk about a place you went to.

Someone might say, "Who went?

Who did you go with?"

I went with my friends.

This means together, so you, your friends together went somewhere.

That's how we use "with" to explain who we did something together with.

Here's another example.

I spent time with who?

With my family.

I went to Australia with who?

With my aunt.

So "with" can answer the question of who accompanied you or who was together.

So that's the first way we can use "with".

Let's look at some other ways to use "with".

We can use "with" to describe a person by saying what they have or possess.

So let's look at some examples.

You see this man?

Imagine I see him in the street and I want to tell somebody about this man.

I could call him the man with the red hat.

The man with the red hat likes to go to the restaurant, for example.

So I'm describing this man using something he has or possesses, in this case a red hat,

and I'm using "with".

Let's look at another example.

Imagine I see this boy.

He has blue hair and I want to tell someone something about him.

I can describe him by using "with".

The boy...

What is interesting about this boy?

Well, the boy with the blue hair...

As soon as I say that, people know I'm talking about this one.

The boy with the blue hair came to the park.

Let's look at another example.

You might not understand what this is.

This is a dog.

This is a woman.

I'm sorry for my bad drawing, but I can say...

Which woman?

Oh, the woman with the dog.

So the woman who has the dog.

The woman with the dog likes my friend.

So again, we can use "with" when we're describing people and we're describing something interesting

about them or something they possess or have.

Okay, so another way to use "with" is to talk about objects or tools.

So we can use it to describe how we do something with a tool or an object.

Let me show you some examples.

Imagine somebody breaks a window.

You might wonder, "How?

How did they break the window?

With what tool or what object?"

He broke the window with a rock.

So that's an example.

What was the object?

It was a rock.

He broke the window, how?

With a rock.

So anytime you're talking about tools or objects and you're trying to explain how, you can

use "with".

Here's another example.

This is very important to me.

You might see a giant diamond.

It's not.

It's fake.

I wish it was a real diamond, but it's not.

But this is a pen.

It's actually my lucky pen.

So whenever I need to do work or tests or something important, I use this lucky pen.

So how can I use this?

Well, this is the object.

Someone might say, you know, "How did you write the test?"

I did the test with my lucky pen.

Do you have a lucky object you might use when you're doing tests?

If you do, you can use this word "with".

Okay, here's another example.

When I was a kid, I could not figure out how to open a coconut.

For people in other countries, you might eat coconuts all the time, but for me, I never

ate coconut when I was a kid.

So the first time I wanted to eat a coconut, I didn't know how to open it, and I wondered

what object do I use to open a coconut?

Do you use a knife?

Do you use a rock?

Do you use a machete?

What tool or object do you use to open a coconut?

So I know in a lot of places, they might use a machete.

I opened a coconut, how?

With what tool?

With a machete.

So here's another example on how to use the word "with".

So we use "with" with objects and with tools to explain how we do something.

All right, well, let's now summarize the key differences between "by" and "with".

So we've talked a lot about "by", we've talked a lot about "with".

What are the main differences?

Well, "by" focuses on who did something.

So for example, the song was "By Elvis", he did the song.

We use "by" to focus on a method used.

So for example, how something was done.

Here's an example.

I went by bus.

Bus was the transportation method.

How did you communicate?

We communicated by text, so it tells you how something was done.

"With" focuses on a tool or an object.

How did she write the letter?

She wrote the letter with a pen.

So a pen is a tool or an object.

We also use "with" when we're talking about who was together, accompanying somebody.

So who was together?

Who went to the park together?

The girl went with her brother.

I went with my friends.

So these are the main differences.

Practice makes perfect.

So what I would recommend is coming to our website at www.engvid.com, where you can actually

take a quiz to practice the differences between "by" and "with".

Practice is very important, and it's the best way to remember these ideas.

So, thank you so much for watching today.

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I have many videos on grammar, language learning, vocabulary, and so much more.

Thanks again for watching, and until next time, take care.