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  • Hello.

  • My name is Emma, and in today's video I am going to answer your questions on

  • what is the difference between "by" and "with"?

  • Many students make mistakes with "by" and "with",

  • so in today's lesson I'm hoping to help you with this so you won't make so many mistakes

  • and you'll understand what are the differences between these two words.

  • Okay, so to start with I have here some questions.

  • I want you to think: Which ones are correct and which ones are not correct?

  • I also want you to think which sentences...

  • Why are they correct?

  • Okay?

  • So, why are they correct and why are they incorrect?

  • So my first sentence: "I learn English by watching engVid."

  • Compare this to: "I learn English with watching engVid."

  • Which one do you think is the correct form?

  • Do we use "by" or do we use "with"?

  • Okay.

  • If you said: "I learn English by watching engVid." you are correct.

  • Okay? And I will explain why in the next part of this video.

  • So: "I learn English with watching engVid."

  • No, we don't use that.

  • Okay, so what about the next two?

  • "I write with a pen.", "I write by a pen."

  • Which one do you think is the correct sentence, and which one is incorrect and why?

  • Okay, if you said: "I write with a pen." you are correct.

  • In this case this is the correct one.

  • And: "I write by a pen." this is-enh-incorrect.

  • So, before we talk about some of the differences, let's talk about the similarities.

  • How are "by" and "with" the same?

  • Well, they both answer the question: How?

  • Okay? So they're both the answer to the question: How?

  • How do you learn English?

  • I learn English by watching engVid.

  • I learn English by reading my dictionary every night.

  • That's probably not a good idea, but I learn English by talking to people.

  • Okay? So that's answering how you do something.

  • Similarly with "with", it also answers the question: How?

  • How do you write?

  • Well, I write with a pen.

  • How do you eat dinner?

  • I eat dinner with a fork. Okay?

  • Or I eat dinner with chopsticks.

  • So they both answer the same question: How?

  • But they are a little bit different, so let's look at these differences now.

  • Okay, so let's look at some example sentences with "by".

  • "I turn on the computer by pushing the on button."

  • Okay? So this is, again, answering the question: How?

  • How do you turn on the computer?

  • Well, I turn on the computer by pushing the on button.

  • I want you to take a moment to look at this sentence.

  • What comes after "by"?

  • We have here "pushing".

  • "Pushing" is a verb. Okay?

  • So I'm just going to underline this.

  • So we often use...

  • After "by" we often have a verb when we're explaining how something is done.

  • Let's look at another example.

  • "I keep healthy by exercising."

  • So, again, after "by" you'll notice we have a verb: "exercise". Okay?

  • In this case it's "exercising".

  • So, one of the first things to notice is after "by" we often have a verb.

  • I have here: "by verb", but that's not all.

  • If you look at the verb, what form is the verb in?

  • Well, take a moment.

  • What do "pushing" and "exercising" have in common?

  • They both end in "ing", so I'm going to write here: "ing".

  • Okay?

  • So we use "by", after "by" comes a verb, and then comes "ing".

  • You know: How do you keep clean?

  • I keep clean by showering.

  • How do you study?

  • I study by...

  • Well, not hanging out with my friends, that would be terrible for studying.

  • I study by reading over my notes.

  • Okay? So after "by" we have the verb and "ing".

  • So let's do one together.

  • "I learned karate (or karate) by _________ YouTube."

  • What do you think the verb would be?

  • We could say: "by watch".

  • Is that right? "...by watch YouTube"?

  • No, we need the "ing", perfect.

  • "I learned karate by watching YouTube."

  • Okay? So, again, this is very useful because any time you're explaining how,

  • if you have a verb and "by" then you can explain how you do something.

  • Okay, now let's look at some of...

  • Some more differences between "with" and "by".

  • So before I begin teaching you more about "by" and "with", I just want to say that

  • these are the general rules, and there are always times in English when rules are broken

  • or when there are exceptions.

  • Okay? And so these are the most basic of the rules with "by" and "with".

  • Okay, so now let's look at when we're talking about a noun.

  • We've just talked about using "by" with a verb ending in "ing" to answer how to do something.

  • Well, we can also talk about how...

  • When...

  • By using a noun.

  • So, to remind you what a noun is, it's usually a person, a place, a thing, or maybe an idea.

  • So let's look at some examples.

  • Oh, before we get to some examples, one of the major rules when we come to "by" is we

  • often use it with communication. Okay?

  • So when we're talking about how we communicate, we usually use "by".

  • We also use "by" a lot when we're talking about transportation.

  • There are also a lot of other exceptions, but the main ones that I want you to know

  • for now is when we're talking about transportation and communication.

  • So, for example: "I will contact you by email."

  • "Email" is an example of a noun.

  • Okay? So this is not a verb.

  • In this case this is a noun.

  • "I will contact you by email."

  • And email is a form of communication.

  • We can change this to: "I will contact you by phone.", "I will contact you by Messenger.",

  • "I will contact you by pigeon."

  • That would never happen, but just an example of what I mean by communication.

  • "I will message you by text."

  • Okay? So, again, these are communicated-based.

  • Then we use "by" for transportation when we're talking about nouns.

  • So, what are some examples of nouns for transportation?

  • We have buses, subways, bikes, boats, airplanes, ferries.

  • Okay?

  • These...

  • Motorcycle, taxi, Uber.

  • These are all forms of transportation and they're all nouns.

  • So we can use "by" when we're talking about these nouns.

  • "I will go by bus.",

  • "I came by car."

  • You'll also notice something.

  • When we use "by" and we're using a noun, we don't usually have the article there.

  • So I don't say: "I will go by a bus." or "I came by a car."

  • It's usually without any article.

  • "I will go by bus."

  • So there's no "the", no "a" here.

  • "I will go by subway.", "I will go by airplane.", "I will go by bike."

  • Okay?

  • So, again, we often use "by" with nouns when we're talking about communication or transportation,

  • and then there are some other times we talk about them, various exceptions also, but this

  • is the main rule.

  • So now let's look at "how".

  • I mean not "how", "with".

  • Let's look at "with".

  • Okay, so now let's talk about "with".

  • So just like "by", "with" answers the same question: How do you do something?

  • Okay? So the question is: How?

  • So I have here some examples.

  • How do Italians talk?

  • Well, you know, they talk in different ways, but: "Italians talk with their hands."

  • for example.

  • How do you point?

  • "I point with my fingers."

  • Okay.

  • So, these are some examples with "with".

  • So when we were talking about "by", we looked at "by" followed by a verb and followed by nouns,

  • and we talked about how the nouns usually have to do with communication or transportation.

  • With "with" we use it usually with a noun.

  • So, again, a noun is a person, place, or thing, like "hands" is a noun, "fingers" is a noun.

  • And we usually use "with"...

  • And again I'm saying usually because there's a lot of other cases we use it,

  • but this is the main rule.

  • We use "with" with body parts, with...

  • When we're talking about tools or different instruments.

  • Okay?

  • So, for example: "Italians talk with their hands."

  • So we have "with" here and we have a body part: "hands".

  • Maybe, you know, people who are deaf often talk with their hands.

  • "I point with my fingers.", "I point with my toes."

  • Okay? So, again, we have another body part: "fingers".

  • "I think with my brain.", "I smile with my teeth and lips.", "I run with my legs."

  • Okay? So we use it for body parts.

  • We can also use it when we're talking about tools or instruments.

  • So when I'm talking about instruments I'm talking about things we use.

  • "I cleaned the floor..."

  • How? How did you clean the floor?