【英文】With 跟 By 的使用時機
This tap is turned up with or by hand?
在寫文章的過程中，常常會搞混 with 和 by 的用法，因為 with 和 by 其實都有 “使用” 的意思，舉例來說：
Fill the bowl with water — 使用水把花瓶裝滿
I travel by bus — 我是使用公車當我的旅遊工具
那，打開水龍頭是用 with 還是 by？
什麼時候要用 with，什麼時候要用 by 呢？
先從本質看起
因為他們在本身意義和文法上其實就有差異，所以可以根據本身的意義來決定使用情境，而最容易搞混的，就只用在“使用”語意上的時候。參考 Oxford 字典其中 with 和 by 常用的解釋及範例，會發現情境上除了“使用”之外，其他都算是好區分
With
accompanied by (another person or thing).
- a nice steak with a bottle of red wine
having or possessing (something).
- a flower-sprigged blouse with a white collar
indicating the instrument used to perform an action.
- cut the fish with a knife
indicating the manner or attitude in which a person does something.
- the people shouted with pleasure
By
identifying the agent performing an action.
- The door was opened by my cousin Annie
- A clear decision by the electorate
indicating the means of achieving something
- malaria can be controlled by attacking the parasite
- the cost of traveling by bus
indicating location of a physical object beside a place or object
- remains were discovered by the roadside
再來才看語態
最容易混淆的，就是當語意是“使用”的時候，而我們可以使用語態來做區分。主動語態 (active voice sentences) 的句子結構下，也就是 Subject (主詞)+ Verb (動詞) + Object (受詞)。主詞是動詞的作用者，通常後面接的是 with
I pull John up from a cliff with the hook
被動語態 (passive voice sentences) 的句子結構下，也就是 Subject (主詞)+ be + V-ed (過去分詞)+ Object (受詞)。主詞是動詞的被作用者，會使用 by
John is pulled up from a cliff by me
兩句一樣都是我把 John 從懸崖上拉起來，但是因為語態的不同，所以是用不同的介系詞
所以結論是什麼？
當我們剛開始在考慮使用哪個介系詞的時候，思考流程如下：
- 先思考各個介系詞常用的意義，with 是用來表達 跟、擁有、使用、情緒和主動語態；by 是 鄰近、藉由、片語和被動語態
- 其中最容易混淆的就是在“用”的使用情境上，這邊可以用時態做判斷，如果是主動語態，用 with；反之，用 by
- 最後如果不太確定的話，可以多看看字典參考他的範例就會了解啦，當到國外的時候，講錯介系詞其實也不要害怕，畢竟語言只是溝通的工具，不要太鑽牛角尖，跨出第一步是最重要的
所以，打開水龍頭應該是 This tap is turned up by hand，但正常情況下只會講 This tap is turned up，而不會有介系詞，除非你想要強調你是用手開的，不是用其他部位或者是工具
If you like this episode, please give me 10 claps; if you think it’s helpful and you want to see more related episodes, please give more claps, your encouragement and support mean a lot to me.
I am Bo, see you next time =)
參考資源
- https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-with-and-by/
- https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/by
- https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/with
If you like this episode, please give me 10 claps; if you think it’s helpful and you want to see more related episodes, please give more claps, your encouragement and support mean a lot to me.
I am Bo, see you next time =)
