Somebody/Something Relating People Noun Preposition əv ɒv Friend

• a friend of mine
• the love of a mother for her child
• the role of the teacher
• can't you throw out that old bike of tommy's?

of

1. belonging to somebody; relating to somebody
• a friend of mine
• the love of a mother for her child
• the role of the teacher
• Can't you throw out that old bike of Tommy's?
• the paintings of Monet
2. belonging to something; being part of something; relating to something
• the lid of the box
• the director of the company
• a member of the team
• the result of the debate
3. coming from a particular background or living in a place
• a woman of Italian descent
• the people of Wales
4. relating to or showing somebody/something
• a story of passion
• a photo of my dog
• a map of India
5. used to say what somebody/something is, consists of or contains
• the city of Dublin
• the issue of housing
• a crowd of people
• a glass of milk
6. used with measurements and expressions of time, age, etc.
• 2 kilos of potatoes
• an increase of 2 per cent
• a girl of 12
• the fourth of July
• the year of his birth
• We would often have a walk of an evening.
7. used to show somebody/something belongs to a group, often after some, a few, etc.
• some of his friends
• a few of the problems
• the most famous of all the stars
8. used to show the position of something/somebody in space or time
• just north of Detroit
• at the time of the revolution
• at a quarter of eleven tonight (= 10.45 p.m.)
9. used after nouns formed from verbs. The noun after ‘of’ can be either the object or the subject of the action.
• the arrival of the police (= they arrive)
• criticism of the police (= they are criticized)
• fear of the dark
• the howling of the wind
10. used after some verbs before mentioning somebody/something involved in the action
• to deprive somebody of something
• He was cleared of all blame.
• Think of a number, any number.
11. used after some adjectives before mentioning somebody/something that a feeling relates to
• to be proud of something
12. used to give your opinion of somebody’s behaviour
• It was kind of you to offer.
13. used when one noun describes a second one
• Where's that idiot of a boy (= the boy that you think is stupid)?
14. used before a noun to say that something is very surprising
• I'm surprised that you of all people should say that.
15. used to express anger
• Of all the nerve!

Word Origin

• Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch af and German ab, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin ab and Greek apo.