128 : by

   A   

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

 

     send something by post

     do something by hand

     contact somebody by phone / by email

     pay by credit card / by cheque

 

• Can I pay by credit card?
• You can contact me by phone or by email.

 

But we say pay cash or pay in cash (not usually by cash).

 

 

We also say that something happens by mistake / by accident / by chance:

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

 

But we say 'do something on purpose' (= you mean to do it):

• I didn't do it on purpose. It was an accident.

 

 

Note that we say by chance, by credit card etc. (not by the chance / by a credit card). In these expressions we use by + noun without the or a.

 

 

   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 bike etc.
     by road / by rail / by air / by sea

• Jess usually goes to work by bus.

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 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 bikes and public transport (buses, trains etc.):

• We travelled on the 6.45 train.

 

 

   C   

We say that 'something is done by somebody/something' (passive):

• 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 anything by Ernest Hemingway?

 

 

   D   

By also means 'next to / beside':

• Come and sit by me. (= next to me)
• 'Where's the light switch?'   'By the door.'

 

 

   E   

Note the following use of by:

• Carl and Mike had a race over 200 metres. Carl won by about three metres.
• Clare's salary has just gone up from £2,500 a month to £2,750. So it has increased by £250 / by ten per cent.