[110장] about와 on by와 with

 1. about 와 on

주로 ~에 대해서, 관해서 라는 표현을 쓸때 about와 on을 사용합니다. 약간의 의미의 차이도 있습니다만 주로 쓰여지는 동사에 대해 갈려지는 경우가 많습니다. 주로 다음과 같은 동사들은 주로 about를 사용합니다.

argue, complain, find out, joke, know, protest, quarrel, read, teach, tell, worry, ask, enquire/inquire, learn, think, agree, hear, laugh, care, wonder

다음과 같은 명사 뒤에 쓰기도 합니다.

argument, chat, fuss, joke, letter, misunderstanding, quarrel

ex) I didn't find out about Sara's illness until my brother telephoned me.

      Misunderstanding about the cause of malaria is common.

주로 on을 쓰는 단어는 다음과 같습니다.

comment, concentrate, focus, insist, reflect

ex) I found it difficult to concentrate on my homework with the football on TV.

      They insisted on seeing my passport, even though I was nowhere near the border.

2. about 이나 on을 다 수용할 수 있는 동사

advise, agree, decide, disagree, lecture, speak, speculate, talk, write,

advice, agreement, book/article/paper, consultation, decision, idea, information, lecture, opinion, question

ex) The press is starting to speculate about/on whether the minister can survive this time.

      There is little agreement about/on what caused the building to collapse.

그러나 주로 격식을 갖추지 않은 것을 의미할때는 about를 더 선호 합니다.

ex)She spoke on the recent advances in teaching reading.

     Jim and Anita seemed surprised when I spoke about buying their car.

     We've been asked to study a book on the history of Norway.

     It's a book about three men and their dog on a boating holiday.

3. by와 with

by나 with는 비슷하게 수단을 나타냅니다. by는 주로 어떤 일을 하는데 있어서 우리가 취하는 행동을 뜻하구요, with는 도구를 뜻하는 경우가 많습니다. 그러다 보니 by 다음에는 동명사가 올 수도 있습니다.

ex) He only avoided the children by braking hard and swerving to the right.

      She succeeded by sheer willpower.

      I didn't have a bottle opener, so I had to open it with a screwdriver.

      I told him that he couldn't hope to catch a big fish with a small rod like that.

by는 일종의 어구처럼 많이 쓰입니다.

ex) I turned the computer off by mistake and lost all my work.

by accident, by phone, by bus/car, by air/road/rail/land/sea, by cheque/credit card, by degrees/stages, by heart, by force, by hand, by post/fax/e-mail

일반적으로 명사앞에 관사나 지시대명사와 같은 단어들이 잇을 경우 그리고 명사가 복수형이면 by를 쓰지 않습니다.

ex)I ordered it on the phone.

     I learnt about it in an email from my boss.

     She turned up in her new car.

     I never travel in buses.